The Do Away With Bride
With her brother, Charlie (Cameron Jebo - The Crooked Man), about to walk down the aisle, Becca (Charlene Amoia) heads home to her parents to meet his intended, pastry chef Helena (Brittany Underwood - Backstabbed). But right away there is something about Helena which makes Becca suspicious even if the rest of the family can't see beyond her blonde hair, beautiful looks and practically perfect persona. When some of what Helena says doesn't add up, especially following the death of a local baker who thought she recognized her, Becca sets about discovering truth about her soon to be sister-in-law and what she discovers makes her fear for her brother's life.
If they ever make any more of those "Stepford Wives" movies they need to get in touch with Brittany Underwood as she does this wonderful take on the perfect girlfriend/housewife character who behind the sweetness has this almost comically psychotic side. It is Brittany Underwood who makes "Deadly Vows", the way as Helena she smiles as she does something vicious, her twisted thoughts manifesting deep behind her intense eyes, makes you smile rather than groan. In truth it is intentionally on the wrong side of the over the top line with it being too obvious but it gives "Deadly Vows" an almost tongue-in-cheek quality which makes this more entertaining than you might imagine.
I say it is the tongue-in-cheek side of "Deadly Vows" which keeps it entertaining because beyond the unhinged nature of Helena and Brittany Underwood's performance what you have left is a standard made for TV thriller. What I mean is that in Helena we have that combination of unhinged and black widow, so we watch as she kills anyone who upsets her whilst we have Charlene Amoia delivering a typical performance of the suspicious sister who snoops and of course finds herself heading for danger the more she digs in to Helena and her past, becoming aware of Helena's jealous streak. The thing is that the familiar nature of the storyline works as a good vehicle for the almost comedy of the characters and Brittany Underwood's performance.
What this all boils down to is that "Deadly Vows" ends up one of those movies which plays it a little over the top and in doing so has this tongue-in-cheek quality which makes it a lot more entertaining than you might expect. And it is that tongue-in-cheek side and the wonderful performance of Brittany Underwood which stops the familiar side to the movie becoming tedious.
