Murder So Sweet (1993) (aka: Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders) starring Harry Hamlin, Helen Shaver, K.T. Oslin, Terence Knox directed by Larry Peerce Movie Review

Murder So Sweet (1993)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Helen Shaver in Murder So Sweet (1993) (aka: Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders)

The Ice-Cream Killer

Edie Ballew (Helen Shaver) is one of Steve Catlin's (Harry Hamlin) ex wives, all of which have learned the hard way that the former dune buggy racer can't be tamed when it comes to his roving eye for a pretty girl. But Edie gets suspicious when Steve's latest wife ends up dead following a big fight with Steve and when it doesn't stop there with Steve's next wife also ending up dead Edie seeks help from an investigator to try and prove what Steve is up to before he murders again despite others thinking she is paranoid.

"Murder So Sweet" was originally called "Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders" which whilst both good titles the original makes it clear that we are in true story territory and a case of murder at that. But despite being based on a true story "Murder So Sweet" is surprisingly generic with a story of a former wife becoming suspicious that her ex has turned murderer and setting out to prove it which of course means putting her self in danger to do so.

Harry Hamlin in Murder So Sweet (1993) (aka: Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders)

Now of course there are some specifics when it comes to "Murder So Sweet" as we have the womanizing Steve whose philandering ways has left him with three ex wives all of which have cost him money. So what we get is when he realises his latest marriage is going down the pan as he is up to his cheating old ways poisons his wife with home made ice-cream laced with drugs. And Steve's new found way of dealing with bossy women doesn't end there as we see that anyone who moans at Steve is a possible candidate for some of his secret recipe ice-cream.

The trouble is that beyond those specifics everything else about "Murder So Sweet" is generic from the way the story pans out with Edie becoming suspicious to the characters who could have been lifted from any number of made for TV movies. I hate to say it but almost feels like a movie which was made on auto pilot with a director who probably dealing with time and money constraints did what was needed but nothing more. It is fortunate that "Murder So Sweet" ended up having a decent cast of familiar faces such as Hamlin, Shaver, Ford, Brennan and Lauter as they help to keep you watching when the generic styling stops having any pull.

What this all boils down to is that "Murder So Sweet" is quite simply a middle of the road 90s TV movie. It may be based on a true story but the direction, the look, the characters, the dialogue and everything about it is generic and so fails to stand out from all those other true story movies made in the 90s.


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