This film displays Billy Moses as the excellent actor he truly is! I was just so used to seeing him as the good boy Cole Gioberti on "Falcon Crest" that it surprised me at how well he could play a callous, cold blooded, and emotionless killer. He did a wonderful job in the duel role of twins. This film does not lose it's intensity and keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.
8 Reviews
Did they watch the same movie I did?
timtracyjc4 January 2020
After reading the other reviews here, I was expecting to see a taut, entertaining thriller. What a disappointment! This plays like a typical made-for-tv flick with a few F-bombs added; a painfully predictable plot with nothing you haven't seen a zillion times already and zero suspense. Skip it-- I wish I did.
Very Predictable and boring
morientes-684016 December 2023
This movie was so bad it must be on by bottom 100 of all movies I have seen. You need only one brain cell to watch it. It's about a man with a realy good job living with her wife and a kid. And the wife think he is working to much. Then a Evil twin brother and his girlfriend suddenly turn up and kidnapping his brother. And he kills a lot of people and of course no cop in sight. Just that alone is so stupid. And the Evil twin brother want to sell the firm and move to New York and start pursuade the mother and the kid to move. But the kid don't want to move. And he starts threatening the son to move. Really bad acting and a weak storyline. There is not one surprise moment in the whole movie.
Clever Premise with the Twins
lavatch23 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
James and Max were identical twins, whose lives took drastically different directions from childhood. Like the prince and the pauper, James was reared in affluence with the finest education and creature comforts, while Max suffered a hardscrabble upbringing as a warehoused child. James is now the successful owner of Coast Pacific Development, a multi-million-dollar organization. Max is a career thief, who has just been released from Lompoc penitentiary. The film develops Max's diabolical plan to impersonate his brother, sell the company, and walk away with $18 million.
The film skillfully unfolds the kidnapping of James and the impersonation carried out by Max. The filmmakers deserve kudos for developing the two characters played by one actor. But the teleplay includes far too much violence, including no less than four grisly deaths. Perhaps the most gruesome moment is when Max abuses David, the little boy of James and Sandy, by threatening to mangle the kid's hand in the kitchen garbage disposer. Whatever the outcome, this child will need years of therapy after the scene in the kitchen!
Some reviewers on this site admired the over-the-top approach and the attempt at dark comedy. But the deception of both Sandy and little David are truly cruel, especially when we realize that Max is sleeping with Sandy. And the filmmakers' choice of leaving behind the crucifix of the poor, deceased nanny Lena was also excessive. It was also inaccurate because as an Orthodox Christian, the Ukrainian Lena would not be wearing a crucifix.
The film was also untidy in the loose ends that remained at the end. The character of Victor, who was Max's nemesis, drops out of the film after a solitary scene. It was also never made clear whether the sale of the company was finalized. And, it was curious why James's secretary Beth was never reported as missing from the office during the lengthy stretch when she was standing watch over her hostage James at the behest of Max.
Without a doubt, the best scene in the film is the moment when Sandy is forced to make the fateful choice by judging which of the two men is her real husband. While she was slow in catching on during the film, in the final analysis, Sandy demonstrates the wisdom of Solomon in her carefully considered decision.
The film skillfully unfolds the kidnapping of James and the impersonation carried out by Max. The filmmakers deserve kudos for developing the two characters played by one actor. But the teleplay includes far too much violence, including no less than four grisly deaths. Perhaps the most gruesome moment is when Max abuses David, the little boy of James and Sandy, by threatening to mangle the kid's hand in the kitchen garbage disposer. Whatever the outcome, this child will need years of therapy after the scene in the kitchen!
Some reviewers on this site admired the over-the-top approach and the attempt at dark comedy. But the deception of both Sandy and little David are truly cruel, especially when we realize that Max is sleeping with Sandy. And the filmmakers' choice of leaving behind the crucifix of the poor, deceased nanny Lena was also excessive. It was also inaccurate because as an Orthodox Christian, the Ukrainian Lena would not be wearing a crucifix.
The film was also untidy in the loose ends that remained at the end. The character of Victor, who was Max's nemesis, drops out of the film after a solitary scene. It was also never made clear whether the sale of the company was finalized. And, it was curious why James's secretary Beth was never reported as missing from the office during the lengthy stretch when she was standing watch over her hostage James at the behest of Max.
Without a doubt, the best scene in the film is the moment when Sandy is forced to make the fateful choice by judging which of the two men is her real husband. While she was slow in catching on during the film, in the final analysis, Sandy demonstrates the wisdom of Solomon in her carefully considered decision.
Hold onto your hat
caa82111 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Jim Handy, who did those funny bits on SNL, in the book which detailed many of them, said something like, "... hold onto your hat when you see a movie contains a 'story-within-a-story!' "
Well, the same thing could be just as true -- and just as funny -- when you are presented with another "evil twin" story!
William Moses is surely a contender -- perhaps the leading one -- for the title of "king of the Lifetime/made-for-t.v. movie."
He's a good looking, engaging actor, who has played the wicked, vengeful man, out to menace and kill his comely prey, as well as the individual being menaced by another, either individually or within his family.
Here, he has the opportunity to gnaw the scenery like a horde of beavers as he plays the good and inevitably evil twin, presenting these diverse personalities to his/his brother's wife and child, and even spending a lot of time arguing with and menacing "himself."
Good fun, with an ending for which you can almost compose the dialog as the characters build towards to the supposedly tense, but hardly surprising, climax. Along the way, the "evil" guy is a combination of a father figure who sometimes talks like Dick Van Dyke or Bill Cosby, in their series -- but acts more like the far-out kook who dispatched his partner into the wood chipper in "Fargo."
I enjoyed these aspects of the film, which made a pretty mediocre story better.
===============================
***Possible Spoiler (although probably not)***
Also raise from 6* to 7.
Wrote the above over a year ago, and just saw this opus for the second time. Since there is no doubt as to how story will end, can't really "spoil," but probably appropriate to indicate anyway.
Would still describe as I did originally, but noted something in the very ending of the flick which should be mentioned also, a common feature to many of these tortured/menaced-family offerings.
The last scene - apparently not too long after the big climax and dispatching of the evil-doer - shows the happy husband/wife/son, entering their upscale SUV, embarking on a happy vacation. It is remarkable to note how quickly the folks in these Lifetime stories have "recovered" from their ordeals - and now look like, say, the Bradys, the Huxtables, the Partidge family, etc., departing to the open road without a care in the world, as if nothing unusual had happened. (In "real life," they's have about 10 years of deep therapy, write three or four books, and appear on a half-dozen or more talk shows.)
Well, the same thing could be just as true -- and just as funny -- when you are presented with another "evil twin" story!
William Moses is surely a contender -- perhaps the leading one -- for the title of "king of the Lifetime/made-for-t.v. movie."
He's a good looking, engaging actor, who has played the wicked, vengeful man, out to menace and kill his comely prey, as well as the individual being menaced by another, either individually or within his family.
Here, he has the opportunity to gnaw the scenery like a horde of beavers as he plays the good and inevitably evil twin, presenting these diverse personalities to his/his brother's wife and child, and even spending a lot of time arguing with and menacing "himself."
Good fun, with an ending for which you can almost compose the dialog as the characters build towards to the supposedly tense, but hardly surprising, climax. Along the way, the "evil" guy is a combination of a father figure who sometimes talks like Dick Van Dyke or Bill Cosby, in their series -- but acts more like the far-out kook who dispatched his partner into the wood chipper in "Fargo."
I enjoyed these aspects of the film, which made a pretty mediocre story better.
===============================
***Possible Spoiler (although probably not)***
Also raise from 6* to 7.
Wrote the above over a year ago, and just saw this opus for the second time. Since there is no doubt as to how story will end, can't really "spoil," but probably appropriate to indicate anyway.
Would still describe as I did originally, but noted something in the very ending of the flick which should be mentioned also, a common feature to many of these tortured/menaced-family offerings.
The last scene - apparently not too long after the big climax and dispatching of the evil-doer - shows the happy husband/wife/son, entering their upscale SUV, embarking on a happy vacation. It is remarkable to note how quickly the folks in these Lifetime stories have "recovered" from their ordeals - and now look like, say, the Bradys, the Huxtables, the Partidge family, etc., departing to the open road without a care in the world, as if nothing unusual had happened. (In "real life," they's have about 10 years of deep therapy, write three or four books, and appear on a half-dozen or more talk shows.)
Alone Shouldn't Be Kept that Way ***1/2
edwagreen28 September 2008
Really good thriller with William R. Moses really breaking out of his Perry Mason part of Ken Malansky.
In this very exciting film, Malansky plays 2 brothers. The evil one is quite a character who suddenly springs into the life of the good one, who is no saint himself. However, the evil brother has a diabolic scheme to inherit the good brother's business by selling it and then wiping out the other brother as well as the family. Anyone getting in the way of his plot is quickly murdered including the therapist for the good brother's wife.
The ending puts you on an absolute edge where the wife of the good brother has to determine who the bad brother is when both claim to be her husband. How she figures it out is truly amazing.
As is the case with everyone else, Bill R. Moses has aged but he still has those good looks which serve him well.
In this very exciting film, Malansky plays 2 brothers. The evil one is quite a character who suddenly springs into the life of the good one, who is no saint himself. However, the evil brother has a diabolic scheme to inherit the good brother's business by selling it and then wiping out the other brother as well as the family. Anyone getting in the way of his plot is quickly murdered including the therapist for the good brother's wife.
The ending puts you on an absolute edge where the wife of the good brother has to determine who the bad brother is when both claim to be her husband. How she figures it out is truly amazing.
As is the case with everyone else, Bill R. Moses has aged but he still has those good looks which serve him well.
William R. Moses delivers in evil twin thriller
tchelitchew17 October 2022
Soap actor William R. Moses really gets a chance to show his off acting chops in "Alone with a Stranger", playing a dual role as an evil twin scheming to take over the identity of his more successful brother. This is a bit more violent and nasty than your typical Lifetime movie: Moses is a calm, collected psychopath who kills without hesitation. The scene where he threatens to shove his stepson's hand into a garbage disposal is positively nerve-wracking.
Moses has to carry the whole thing on his sturdy shoulders, though: wife Barbara Niven barely makes an impression, while coconspirator Nia Peeples is wasted in an underwritten role. Barely anything happens in the sideplot with Peeples and the captive good twin, and it throws off the film's pacing quite a bit. Still, this has plenty to please connoisseurs of TV thrillers.
Moses has to carry the whole thing on his sturdy shoulders, though: wife Barbara Niven barely makes an impression, while coconspirator Nia Peeples is wasted in an underwritten role. Barely anything happens in the sideplot with Peeples and the captive good twin, and it throws off the film's pacing quite a bit. Still, this has plenty to please connoisseurs of TV thrillers.
A Sibling Causes Horrible Trouble
whpratt124 March 2005
This was a very entertaining film in which human life was taken at the drop of a hat. William R. Moses,(James/Max) "Hangman's Curse",'03 was a very successful CEO and had very little time for his wife and spoiled son. All of a sudden a very close relationship appears and turns his entire life upside down and causes all kinds of problems. However, James's wife, Barbara Niven,(Sandy Kennington),"The Drone Virus",'04, seems to enjoy the different changes that go on in the bedroom and how James has become so very romantic and attentive to her desires. If you look close, you will see Mindy Cohn,(Toni), "Facts of Life Down Under",'87 TV Series, who is a secretary to Sandy Kennington. There are lots of thrills and chills in this film and the story line is outstanding.
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