Vows of Deception (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

The actual Lucinda

[jamie_arkansas40 · 5/10 · 4 November 2007]

This movie is a true movie and not a bad one at that. The actual Lucinda is Susan Grund. She married Jimmy Grund . A very prominent family from Peru Indiana. I read the book "Deadly Seduction" and the movie leaves a lot out. The book is so much better. This woman , if thats what you want to call her is very deceiving. Before she married Jimmy Grund she was married to Tom Whited Sr. She beat her stepson's so bad he is now mentally retarded. One of his hands remains in a curled position due to his mental retardation and after-effects of his medication to curb is seizures. He can only volunteer one coherent word and that word is Food. She is one sick human being. Susan Grund is the only one who knows exactly what happened that night in August. She still insists she is Innocent of the charges . Connie and James A. Grund (parents of Jimmy) still live in the same house on Main Street in Peru. Their feelings about Susan have never mellowed and they visit the grave of their murdered son each weekend. Gary Nichols (best friend of Jimmy) is still a detective for the Peru Police Dept. and has continued to work surveillance operations for the FBI and statewide drug organizations mainly on drug related cases. Darlene Worden (Susan's Sister) says she will still not stop loving her sister despite the murder she committed and the fact that Susan refuses to reply to her letters. Darlene admits she wishes she had not split the family by informing on her sister to the authorities. Nellie Sanders (mother of Susan) remains convinced that others were involved in the murder of Jimmy besides her daughter. Me personally cant imagine anyone else but her to have done it as Jimmy was a well respected and liked man. Nellie still lives in the same rundown house on 3rd street, Peru; the house that Susan so desperately tried to leave behind. Susan is now in a house she needs to stay in PRISON !!!!!! I hope the info I have provided you helps. Anyone with questions to this just post them if I can answer I will be happy too. I am also going to give you a timeline in hopes this can be of good info. Timeline

August 4, 1992: Police state that they have no suspects in the death of James A. Grund.

August 5, 1992: Grund's death is ruled a homocide instead of suicide.

November 4, 1992: At 5 a.m in the morning Susan Grund is arrested for the murder, Susan pleads innocent of the charges and is being held without bond.

June 3, 1993: Susan Ann Grund testified that she hid the gun that she found near her husband's body to protect her stepson, with whom she had been sex~ ually involved.

September 27, 1993: The trial starts

April 15, 1994: Susan Grund is sentenced to 40 years, with eligibility for parole in 2024.

June 7, 1996: The book "Deadly Seduction" Comes out.

November 13, 1996: The movie comes out on CBS

Now That's Gratitude For Ya!

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 3 November 2007]

***SPOILERS*** Somewhat confusing crime drama that's based on a true story, maybe that's why it's so confusing, about this parolee Lucinda Michaels, Cheryl Ladd, who gets involved with this very very very successful lawyer the sweet and very likable Clay Spencer, Mike Farrell, and takes him for the ride of his life; straight into the city morgue.

This whole sordid adventure started out as a harmless prank on the part of Lucinda's parole officer local cop Matt Harding played by John Cassavettes look alike Nick Mancuso. Playing a practical joke on his friend Clay, who's been divorced for some six years, Matt has him set up with his parolee client Lucindia feeling that he and Clay, as well as Lucinda, will get a big laugh out of the whole deal. It turns out that Clay ends up going ape-sh*t over the shapely and hot as a pistol Lucinda, who was some eight months pregnant at the time, and before you can say Jackie Robinson the two were hitched, married, in the biggest social event that town had in years.

Grateful to her husband at first for all the things that he's given her together with her new born child, from her previous husband, Britiany,Clair Marie Hooker, Lucinda turns as rotten as a months old container of spoiled milk as she starts going on a spending spree leaving Clay in debt, over her extravagant lifestyle, tens of thousands of dollars. Lucinda really goes overboard when she starts to turn the screws on Clay's young and handsome, like his pop, son Nick, Michael Woolson, who despite all of Lucinda's trying resist her very sexy and aggressive advances which must have taken superhuman self-control on Nick's part.

Clay smelling a rat when an acting scared and concerned Lucinda tells him that she's getting obscene and threatening phone calls has Matt tap his, and Lcinda's, phones. It's then when Clay finds out that his very greedy and ungrateful wife is trying to seduce and screw his innocent and very confused son Nick, who has a study girlfriend Samantha played by Cody Tucker, behind his back and decides to cut the two-timing hussy out of his will. As it turned out Lucinda gets to Clay first not only leaving him dead with a bullet to his left temple but his totally innocent son Nick implicated in his fathers murder.

The movie "Vows of Deception" was pretty good for the first half but started to really lag after Clay's body was discovered in his mansion by Lucinda. We were giving the runaround to if Clay's death was a murder or a suicide. All the evidence seemed to point to the obviously innocent and framed, by Lucinda, Nick. Still it was hard, even if you fell for Lucinda's frame-up, to see how Nick could have knocked off his old man.

The two, Nick & Cay, were always getting along fine and only Lucinda's lies about her step-son was the only evidence, if you could call it that, against him. Nick for his part was such a good and feeling son that he refused to bring out Lucinda's infidelities towards his father and his rejections of his step-mothers efforts in trying to get him romantically involved with her. That in itself would have easily cleared Nick of Lucinda's ridiculous charges of murdering Clay, but Nick kept it under the table in order not to soil his fathers good name and memory.

****SPOILER ALERT****In the end it was Matt, who felt very guilty for having him introduce Lucinda to Clay, that broke the case wide open by finding the murder weapon, Nick's gun, where Lucinda hid it. This before she could plant it on Nick, or in Nick's home, in what Lucinda called Plan B that would have iced Nick, with a murder rap and conviction, and had her get off Scot-free in her husbands and Nick's fathers murder.

The Blind Date from Hell

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 20 December 2021]

This film begins with a pregnant woman by the name of "Lucinda Michaels" (Cheryl Ladd) arriving by bus to the small town of Amherst and being greeted by law enforcement official by the name of "Detective Matt Harding" (Nick Mancuso). Since Lucinda is on parole for a previous offense, Detective Harding wants to make sure that she abides by the law and keeps her appointments with her probation counselor. He then drives her to her sister's house nearby and then heads to a nearby nightclub where some friends are waiting for him. When he gets there, he is given a surprise birthday party in which his best friend "Clay Spencer" (Mike Farrall) plays a trick on him by having a stripper pop up out of the birthday cake. A few days later, in an attempt to even the score, he asks Lucinda to appear at a gathering as a blind date for Clay and then surprising him by removing her overcoat. Although the joke isn't that funny, Clay is immediately attracted to Lucinda due to her beauty and charm. Not long afterward, to Matt's horror, his best friend and Lucinda are subsequently married. What Clay doesn't realize, however, is that Lucinda isn't nearly as nice as she looks and he soon gets more trouble than he could ever hope to realize. Now rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I came across this movie by complete accident and after reading a short synopsis I decided to check it out. Although I didn't expect too much initially due to the made-for-television format, I was somewhat surprised by how well it kept my interest pretty much from start-to-finish. I especially liked the acting on the part of Cheryl Ladd who played her part in a solid manner. Likewise, her beauty definitely added to the overall scenery as well. Be that as it may, while certainly not a great crime-drama by any means, I found it to be a decent movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Not the most dramatic movie but, that's ok.

[jameswallwork · 7/10 · 4 January 2022]

This movie is a slow burner and, doesn't get straight into the action/drama until way later on in the movie unlike, most films in the drama/thriller genre which, usually send the viewer straight into it. However, if like me and you're wanting to view a film of this genre that offers a change in pace I highly recommend this film.

Granted the film doesn't offer lots of action or dramatic scenes which, may come as disappointment to some and may leave some viewers of the film wishing or wanting that the film had offered more scenes like this. However, I believe this is what helps the film stand out compared to others in this genre and is one of the positives of this film in general. Due to the fact that, as it is a slow burner it allows the viewer to get to know the characters and more specifically the victim in the story which, I think can be lost at times in regard to movies of this genre and similar genres when they're killed off within the first 10 to 15 minutes of the movie.

To finish. If you're looking for something of a different pace to watch but, still want a decent plot with decent acting give this film a try. I'm sure you'll find it's not a disappointing watch.

A bad Cheryl Ladd flick

[guil12 · 22 May 2010]

Of course, no one ever claimed she was much of an actress. This film proves it. Ladd goes around playing sexy and that's about it. No moments but puckering and prancing about in revealing costumes too tight and too small for her. And what a waste of talented actors such as Nick Mancuso and Mike Farrell. They must have been desperate to take on this project or the money was too good. It's pretty obvious about what will happen in this. Isn't it always when a bimbo marries a rich man? This is no different. Michael Woolson as the son tries to stay far away from the whore wife. But the script makes him succumb to her fancies.

All in all I give this a 2 and a half for the presence of Mancuso and Farrell and the attempt of Woolson. But 0 for the performance by Ladd.

Being too clever for her own good

[clanciai · 7/10 · 15 December 2021]

She is young and beautiful and marries an elderly millionaire, who has a very good-looking son who of course turns out to be the ideal of a lover. When her husband finds out his wife has betrayed him he alters his will and she gets into a hurry. The husband is found shot with a bullet in his head, but since there is no murder weapon to be found, there is no case. She tries to make his son a prime suspect, but he has seen her through. Her sister Terry knows all about her case and the complexes of it, and her revelation brings the key to the picture. Nick Mancuso makes the most interesting performance here, the friend of the murdered husband, who refuses to let go of the case. Most of the film is a desperate hunt for the murder weapon. It is all a true story.

Fairly decent movie with some stars

[Go_Skins · 5/10 · 17 September 2004]

I thought this movie wasn't "exceptionally" good. I did, however, think it was worth watching. The movie centered around an older, sexier female, played by Cheryl Ladd of the "Charlie's Angels" days. She tries to go after the money of a friend of a detective. Overall, the storyline I thought dragged on and needed something else. There also was her sister played by Nancy Cartwright who does the voice for Bart Simpson on the show, "The Simpsons." If you are in to dramas, it's definitely worth watching. I found that I was watching it for a little bit then turning the channels back and forth during commercials. I don't think there could be anymore to the story because of the way it ended.

The Rise and Fall of Lucinda Spencer

[lavatch · 8/10 · 16 July 2021]

"Vows of Deception" includes a convincing rise-and-fall structure of the central character Lucinda. Cheryl Ladd gives a star turn in eliciting sympathy for her character at the beginning. By the middle, Lucinda has turned into a gold digger. By the end, she has become a monster.

One of the most interesting characters was Clay Spencer, the attorney who became infatuated with Lucinda but paid the ultimate price when she turned on him. A key transitional moment was when Clay began to question Lucinda's excessive spending. She felt as though he was placing her on a "leash," and that was the trigger for her neurosis .

Lucinda's sister Terry was essential in the exposition of Lucinda's childhood abuse. Out of her instincts for survival, she had learned to be manipulative with men. It was Terry's testimony that ultimately led to her sister's downfall.

Matt Harding was the hard-boiled detective who never trusted Lucinda. Matt played a trick on his best friend Clay by introducing him to Lucinda at a time when she was pregnant with little Brittney. But the decent Clay saw something special in Lucinda that eventually led to marriage. The poor fool never recognized that he was up against an immovable object in the indomitable Lucinda.