Cheap Mr. Murder (DVD) (Dick Lowry) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mr. Murder

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MR. MURDER is an okay adaptation of Koontz's novel. It's biggest fault is actually the casting of Stephen Baldwin in the all important leading role. Baldwin's range is extremely limited, and sometimes there was little difference between the real writer and the clone. This is especially true in the first half of the movie; later on, he tries a little harder and he salvages what little he can of his performance. Other than that, there are some interesting suspenseful moments; Julie Warner tries hard as Baldwin's wife, but she has to overcome a lot of inadequacy from Baldwin; James Coburn is wasted but the pro he is, he puts more into his smaller role than Baldwin did. Thomas Haden Church was awful. Monotone, boring, he came off even worse than Baldwin!!!
The movie has some suspenseful moments, but it's not as good as the book. However, overall, it's fairly entertaining and not as awful as some may think.

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It's pretty awful.
Stephen Baldwin is a horror writer who discovers he has an identical, murderous clone. This silly Dean Koontz adaptation is based off of his equally silly novel, so it's no surprise the script has all the typical Koontz plot elements: Government conspiracy, heroes going on the run, and a final fight in the middle of nowhere. The only difference is that the mystery is revealed at the beginning! Overlong miniseries (Which actually features nudity in the video version)features countless leapholes in logic, unconvincing special effects, and a hilariously wooden Stephen Baldwin as the writer and killer. You can count the number of good Koontz novels and movies on one hand (Phantoms, anyone?), and this sure as hell isn't one of them.

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A decent made-for-TV movie
In general, Dean Koontz books haven't been translated to movies very successfully. This one made the transition better than most. ("Watchers", "Whispers", and "Phantoms" were appalling. The best adaptation, "Intensity", another made-for-TV movie, was never released after broadcast.) This movie follows the book rather well and, several times, generates a nice level of suspense. Obviously, much had to be cut or skimmed over to make it fit time constraints: better that than bogging down the pace with detail. Steven Baldwin wouldn't have been my choice for the lead, but he performs it adequately. James Coburn was wasted. As a made-for-TV, there isn't a widescreen version and the sound is only 2-channel stereo. I'm glad I saw it when first broadcast in two parts; it was good to see it uninterrupted when it was released, but I'm not willing to shell out the bucks to own it.