"Murder in My House"

Sometimes people are just absolutely perfect not only at what they do, but for what they do. Take Barbara Niven. Ms. Niven is a beautiful actress in her ‘50s with an expressive face and a range that allows her to play both innocent victims and femme fatales. She is the consummate “utility actress” (see this post for a further explanation of the term). Since her ‘40s she has been called upon time and time again to essay such roles in both direct-to-video psychological thrillers as well as made-for-TV movies for Lifetime – the kind that ultimately make it to Channel 7’s late night schedule (and consequently, the Late Nite Landfill). I think the key to her success is that she’s believable. Despite her great beauty, she doesn’t seem unapproachable or like someone you’d never happen upon in “real life.” She really does seem like a person you can meet – a soccer mom, a co-worker, a son or daughter’s schoolteacher, etc. It’s her presence both in terms of her acting and of her appearance, particularly her face. She really seems grounded in reality. Probably because she is – at her website, you can read poignant tales of her lifelong struggles with body image.

Inevitably, given the assignments she most often finds herself in, she is almost always better than the material. It’s just the nature of the beast. And probably one of the reasons she’s often hired – as the Phantom has mentioned several times here at the Landfill, the right actor can really elevate weak material so you don’t see the seams showing as much.

The trailer for this one makes it look like passable “who done it” fare to kill time with, depending upon what mood you’re in. It’s yet another movie that premiered on Lifetime in the US while having a video release in the rest of the world, notably Canada. The trailer hints that it has a little bit of that over-the-top, “zero-to-sixty heightened escalation factor” these DTV/Lifetime psycho-dramas usually have, but there is the nice twist of having a father-daughter relationship explored, especially since the daughter is middle-aged. Surprisingly, the trailer also seems to reveal a few of what are probably supposed to be “surprises” in the plot… go figure (or don’t, since the trailer already did the figuring for you).

Playing Niven’s father is journeyman TV actor Daniel J. Travanti. He cut his teeth with a variety of guest-roles in 1970s cop shows, but is most well-known for his own cop show with six seasons as Captain Frank Furillo on the acclaimed “Hill Street Blues.” His next most notable role after Furillo is probably that of John Walsh, host of “America’s Most Wanted” in not one but two TV movies about the dad who turned activist following his son’s murder. Last but not least, he portrayed legendary broadcaster/McCarthy opponent Edward R. Murrow in a television biopic 19 years before David Straithairn netted an Oscar® nomination for doing the same in “Good Night and Good Luck.”

The other notable supporting performer here is Lisa Zane. Zane is one of those “can’t be pigeonholed” performers. She’s turned up in tons of TV and movie roles, and a lot of her work is in productions like this one. But she’s also a gifted stage actress who originated the roles of Rita in "Prelude to a Kiss" and Cleo in "Robbers;”a singer-songwriter with a recording contract and a steady gig at L.A.’s Les Deux Café for over a decade; and has even done voices for animated cartoons like “Biker Mice from Mars.” Outside of her professional work, she has a couple of ties to comic book characters, having once dated the late Heath “The Joker” Ledger and of course, being the sister of Billy “The Phantom” (of the jungle, not the Landfill) Zane.

View the trailer here:



Or watch the entire movie on WABC-TV Channel 7 on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 11:35 PM... if you dare!