Murder at My Door (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

A brilliant piece of acting brings this sluggish drama to life

[jenniferlplummer · 4/10 · 13 May 2009]

Only Johnny Galecki could play a brutal serial killer and still manage to bring empathy to the role without compromising the horror of his character's actions. Galecki, who is better known for his comedic roles in US sit-coms, exudes a natural vulnerability that commands audience compassion as he delivers what is arguably one of his finest performances to date as the tormented Teddy McNair, nineteen year-old art student lost in a fearful world of ritualistic murder and the quest for catharsis. This acting tour-de-force is simultaneously terrifying, disturbing and achingly poignant - finely executed with talent that could be rivalled by very few.

Murder at My Door, a made-for-TV film, may fall weak at times: a formulaic plot, sluggish pace, detectives who divulge sensitive information to random civilians, fire which doesn't appear to be particularly hot or carry any force, stilted dialogue, and the occasional slip into the melodramatic, but in truth, it doesn't matter. This film is not attempting to create the suspense of a mystery thriller, a whodunit or to throw a series of elaborate twists at the audience. Instead it is a look into the troubled mind of a killer, his desperation, his sick fantasy world, the grief he has carried through childhood, and the muddled relationship between a well-meaning mother and the son she loves, but without realising has emotionally abandoned – and this it does very well. Perhpas it is not the greatest drama ever screened, but strong performances keep it afloat to a level that makes it worth the watch.

Interesting Film, True Story? Probably not.

[raquelzepeda · 6/10 · 18 April 2020]

This movie is interesting although I do not believe that it's based on a true story. The acting and plot was good and it was entertaining.

Someone wrote that there is an error in portraying the parents at the son's gravesite. Sorry, but this is not an error since you do not have to have a body in order to place a tombstone upon a grave. When you think about it, the tombstone is a memorial of the person, not evidence of a dead body.

Troubled Son

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 27 October 2013]

***SPOILERS*** Fine acting can't overcome the ridicules storyline of this Lifetime Network made for TV movie about this serial killer stalking down young blond teenage girls and not only brutally murdering them but mutilating their corpse in a ritual like fashion. It's the troubled and guilt ridden Teddy Mcnair, Johnny Gelecki, who's suspected by the local police of committing these horrendous crimes.

Teddy for his part is covering up , at first, for his friend Jeb,Jarred Blacard, who was the last person seen with the first murder victim Katie Whitehead, Lalainla Indbjerg before she was murdered. But as things soon turns out we see Jeb somehow going along with Teddy's fingering him in Katie's murder even it can mean that he may well spend, if convicted, the rest of his life behind bars for doing it, The confusion gets even worse when Teddy's mom shows up fanatically defending her son not only in Katie as well as the other girls who he's later suspected of murdering in the movie. That to the shock of her own husband, Teddy's dad, Mr.Ed McNair, R.H Tomson,who besides being a recovering alcoholic has no use for Teddy Boy whatsoever in holding him e=responsible for the death, who died in a house fire, his twin brother and the apple in his eye Joey, Zachary Thorpe. It's these mindless and unconnected side plots in the movie that makes it almost impossible to follow.

***SPOILERS*** The ending is anything but a surprise in who's been killing young women or girls in town since the film makes no effort to hide the killers identity. It leaves so many clues in who he is that it's amazing that it takes almost 90 minutes for the local police lead by master detective and amatory psychological profiler Det. Mike Ferguson, Blu Mankuma,to finally realize just who he is. The best part of the film is the ending with a spectacular Viking funeral for the killer as he volunteered immolate himself to the shock of those of us watching the movie.

Psychological trip, predictable because of it

[pushfrog_2000 · 3/10 · 8 August 2009]

There are *SPOILERS* ahead, so if you wish to watch the movie in it's entirety without knowing prior, I suggest you read no further.

Murder at My Door is a psychological study on human's coping with sorrow. Unfortunately, it falls back on standard grade reactions, and never really addresses the issues fully.

The ending is predictable from the scene where Teddy spends his first night home out with childhood friends Jeb and Katie. However, as this movie is more about the path it takes and less about the destination, one could easily forgive this.

The psychology behind the film falls back on things we've already seen before. Family tragedy forming into psycho-sexual issues due to the lack of structure in the characters lives. The only thing that's really new or shocking is how openly the young lead expresses his sexual frustrations, and that's only because this is a made for TV movie from the 90's!

We are treated to wonderful acting by both Judith Light and Johnny Galecki, who surprises early in his career. He conveys all of his emotions perfectly and actually has you attached to his character in the end. The mother also hits her reactions perfectly, believably becoming the mother struggling for and with her precious son.

All in all, I would recommend it for a lazy afternoon viewing or somebody who just enjoys the presentation of the art. Somebody looking for a unique psychological study or a even a typical serial killer movie needs to look elsewhere.

One BAD movie

[alliesmom97 · 1/10 · 22 June 2005]

I freely admit to being a BIG fan of movies of this type...the made for TV tragedy of some sort. But this was AWFUL! I lost interest and wandered out of the room several times.

It's not a bad idea for a movie...messed up kid kills girls, his parents suspect it but don't want to face it. But it was just badly made and unrealistic. For example, Dad's AA sponsor just happens to be the cop investigating the case and the two of them sit there at an AA meeting and the cop tells Dad all kinds of things about the case that a cop would NEVER tell an outsider! And Dad acted so weird that if you hadn't known from the beginning who the killer was you would have thought it was him. In fact, the only person in the entire family who seemed remotely sane was the kid who was killing the girls...until the last scene, he seemed semi-normal.

I usually go for this kind of thing, but THIS one was a waste of time.

What a cheesy piece of garbage

[Sophiedog · 1/10 · 6 June 1999]

I can't believe I wasted two hours of my life watching this garbage... I can't believe Judith Light wasted several weeks of her life making this garbage... Predictable!!! Predictable!!! Predictable!!! There have been hundreds of lousy 'made-for-tv' movies, but this one has to be one of the worst... this is the story of a completely dysfunctional family . Completely melodramatic acting and a script that is horrible... you never know what actually happened the night of the first (or is it the second?) murder... they just barely touch on the murder at the University... DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WATCHING THIS!!!!!!!

Not believable, just very melodramatic

[SusieSalmonLikeTheFish · 6/10 · 12 September 2014]

Teddy lost his brother in a mysterious fire over a decade ago, and now he's home from university. It isn't long before his whole family begins to question his weird behavior, from watching masochistic pornography online (which is discovered by his little brother) to collecting newspaper clippings of various murders, making a mural of them within his closet. His mom finds out that he isn't just home for the holidays, he was expelled for throwing a chair at his art teacher and creating his "masterpiece" - a cartoon drawing depicting the murder and rape of a woman. Soon it's obvious Teddy has done something seriously wrong, but what is it exactly and how far has he gone? This wasn't an awful movie, but come on, the things Teddy does are just too absurd to be realistic! He gets a job working at a department store where he sets up store mannequins in the window display as a man walking a nude woman on a leash made from the male mannequin's belt! Then he proceeds to excitedly tell the manager how amazing it makes the store look! Honestly? Okay, there are loads of perverts and sickos out there unfortunately, but none of them are that dramatic and cheerful about it. Teddy's crimes are so obvious that the mom looks like such a ditz for not being able to piece it all together 'till the end. And the end? Teddy walks right into a burning house, picturing his grandmother as he does so! There are some very cheesy and melodramatic moments that some people might find cute but I just find over the top, such as Teddy saying to his grandmother, "I'm not supposed to talk about my brother." The grandmother says, "b*llsh!t! He was your brother and you can talk about him any time you want!" To her seven year old grandson.

The acting overall was decent, the soundtrack, not so much. The plot was okay but I can't see myself ever watching this film again.

Predictable, garbage movie

[metalrage666 · 1/10 · 28 October 2017]

The story of the dysfunctional family has been done to death, but this movie takes dysfunction to the point of insanity. Recovering alcoholic husband, one son, Joey, who died in a fire, recent death of grandma and another son, Teddy, in this case played by Johnny Galecki, who's recently been thrown out of school and is a little more unhinged than people would like.

The constant on and off family arguments aside, Teddy's mental balance is put to the test when his grandmother dies as he believes that she was the only one who "got him". Meanwhile, young blonde girls are being picked off and left in grisly, almost artistic poses reminiscent of the "art" created by Teddy. The mother, played by Judith Light, still grieving after the loss of her son and then her mother, just wants to put a silver lining on everything and refuses to accept what's happening around her. How the police investigating this rather obvious mess, didn't pick Teddy up in about five minutes is anyone's guess

Teddy moves into his Grandmother's house as that's the only place he felt welcome and from there just withdraws further from reality. He takes his girlfriend there, goes all Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde on her, the house catches fire, she runs off screaming and Teddy, on seeing images of his grandmother and happier times, ignores his mother's pleas, walks into the burning house and kills himself; but not before informing her that it wasn't her dead son, Joey, that started the previous fire, it was in fact Teddy himself.

The movie is just terrible from start to finish, it's like going to a mystery murder party, finding out the killer in the first 2 minutes and then just sitting around uncomfortably looking for anything else to do. I have no idea why they keep using Judith Light as an actress in anything as she is a horrid, wooden actress, who just can't act to save her life. There's no great story here and there's no real reason to watch it. As the movie progresses you can literally predict with pinpoint accuracy what was going to happen and when you can do this with any movie then it's obvious it doesn't need to be watched.

Was not bad, but not amazing

[nick_david16 · 6/10 · 3 July 2020]

It came on late one night, i was only gona watch a little bit but i watched the whole thing. the acting was pretty good, sometimes the dialogue wasnt right but nothing major. i missed some words here and there because of the different accent (im aussie and i think it was american) but overall i understood most of it. worth a watch if it comes on TV but i wouldnt go out of your way to look it up

Good film

[caereljade · 10/10 · 17 January 2018]

I don't know why there are are so many bad reviews, it was a bit predictable, but there was some great acting parts in it which was executed really well, credit where credit is earned,

Similar to A Family Divided

[pik923 · 8/10 · 7 March 2022]

YouTube has a great collection of made for TV movies. Last night watched A FAMILY DIVIDED with Faye Dunaway and I also watched a film with Judith Light and a younger Johnny G - I enjoy these films and a step above the maddening violent films produced by for or shown on Netflix

Back to this film - being a parent is so difficult and when a kid goes wrong gets caught ouch!!!!

Well worth watching good cast good script yet sad.