Not Such a Safe Haven
Divorced mum of one, Lindsay Porter (Julie McNiven) lives in the gated community of Shady Grove where she is happy being a mum, running a private gym and also being the head of the local neighborhood watch program. But it seems like things are going to change as the handsome Stephen (Trevor Donovan - Escaping Dad) moves in next door and takes an immediate shine to Lindsay. But as she becomes close to Stephen she begins to fear that she and her daughter are in danger. The question is, who is behind all the strange things going on in Lindsay's life?
"The Neighborhood Nightmare" is one of those made for TV movies which are incredibly obvious. We have Lindsay, who whilst dating the handsome Stephen, is the target of some threats and so the question is who is behind this nightmare campaign of terror. Is it her own daughter who doesn't want her mom to date, her ex who hasn't been in contact since the divorce, then there is the handsome yet mysterious Stephen, security guard Barrett who is clearly fond of Lindsay whilst there is the sporty Kat who has a thing for Stephen and also a new personal trainer at the gym who seems to recognize Stephen. As such "The Neighborhood Nightmare" is one of those movies where we have the campaign of terror and we wait to see who is behind it, with every now and then one of those who might be a suspect being shown not to be.
Now "The Neighborhood Nightmare" is also one of those made for TV movies which doesn't do subtle to well. As such Trevor Donovan as Stephen seems to be borrowing Clark Kent's glasses, whilst Helena Mattsson as Kat turns the dial up on being both sexy and also utterly over the top. I could go on because there are more scenes than I care to count where the acting isn't natural and we are spoon fed character background information through some ridiculous dialogue. Sadly this side of the movie pushes "The Neighborhood Nightmare" towards being as humorous as it is thrilling; just wait for the ending to see how humorous it can get.
What this all boils down to is that "The Neighborhood Nightmare" ends up one of those made for TV thrillers which is as entertaining for what is wrong as for what is right. But as such this is one of those made for TV thrillers which don't quite work as a thriller.
