The Moonlight Murders

I remember very clearly around the year of 1995 that Swedish TV channel TV 3 used to show a lot of different TV thrillers. That kind of thrillers you could tell were made on a limited budget, and really looked like it was specifically made for TV. Since i watched a lot on TV 3 back in the day, i would check some of those TV thriller movies out. Some turned out to be alright while others....not that good. Perhaps it also mattered that i was 18 years old at that time, i prefered watching big box office releases at the cinema. And in the year of 1995 i visited the cinema a lot, i watched Bad Boys, Braveheart, Judge Dredd, The Usual Suspects, Copycat, Crimson Tides, Assassins and Seven among many titles. Regarding TV thrillers back in 1995 i only remember a couple of the titles i watched and even recorded on my VCR player, such as the 1994 TV thriller Web Of Deception from director Richard A. Colla ( the director of the original 1978 science fiction pilot for TV series Battlestar Galactica ). Web Of Deception is a very typical classic 90´s crime drama thriller, that have that magical 90´s touch that we all remember. Legendary actor Powers Boothe ( who i love in the 1987 western action film Extreme Prejudice with Nick Nolte, William Forsythe, Rip Torn and Michael Ironside ) plays the character Dr. Philip Benesch, a respected pychiatrist in the city. His wife Ellen Benesch ( Pam Dawber from the classic sitcom comedy TV series Mork & Mindy ) finds out he cheated on him. After thinking through all of this a while she decides to stay, But only if he is honest and promise to work on the relationship with her. One day Dr. Philip have a new admirer known as Corrie Calvin ( Lisa Collins ) who wants to have a relationship with him. He says no, and she doesn´t stop and continue following him around, even visit his home without permission. When Dr. Philip hurt his hand through a broken wine glas, Corrie take the blood from the napkin to set up a crime scene where she arrange his fingerprints on a gun that kills her. Now he is facing murder charges, unless he can proof he is innocent. Web Of Deception is a good choice if you want a classic crime TV film with good acting, solid characters and a simple story that works. You can actually watch it for free onthe YouTube channel MovieSpehere Full Movies. Every year we see Lifetime TV movie thrillers being released for streaming, and i loose count of how many titles they actually release. I decided to check one of the Lifetime thrillers released this year called The Moonlight Murders. Is this a must watch this upcoming Halloween weekend or should you watch the 1994 TV thriller Web Of Deception instead?

The criminal investigation reporter May ( Harley Bronwyn ) is the host of the crime TV show The Moonlight Murders, where she especially investigate a serial killer that have killed a lot of women over a long period of time. One key witness name Zeke ( Clayton Louis ) who is is a big fan of her TV show, plus works as a security guard at one of the building´s where one woman was found dead, agree to be interviewed on her show. May see this as an oppurtunity to find out some more clues of who the killer is, but it seems that Zeke may be a bit of an obsessed fan of May.

I have watched several Lifetime movies over the years, everything from Tv thrillers to Christmas movies as well. While i sometimes feel that too many of these movies feel very blend or look too similar to each other, i do have a favourite Lifetime thriller that´s known as the 2022 film Safe Room from director Boris Kodjoe. This film is surprisngly good for being a TV thriller released by Lifetime. I will say though that i prefer Lifetime movies over The Hallmark Channel movies, because at least some of these movies actually have descent acting. When it comes to The Moonlight Murders one of the reasons why i picked this film is because i noticed the high rating on IMDB at 7.3. That is quite high for being a Lifetime TV movie and that did make me curious. In a way i can understand why this rating was that high, considering this is a TV thriller. The acting is far better than most Hallmark movies and the plot is actually not that bad either. You could say that this film is divided into both a serial killer film, and the investigation of the victims by the journalist character May ( played by actress Harley Bronwyn ). The most interesting part of this film are the interviews between May and security officer Zeke ( well played by actor Clayton Louis ) on her crime investigation TV show The Moonlight Murders and outside of the camera. Because you can clearly tell that Zeke is struggling mentally and i feel that Clayton does a good job, portraying a man with mental problems. I like the character Poppy ( played by actress Lauren Cole ), you feel really sorry for her. Being a bully victim since childhood and she is in love with Zeke, accepting his mental issues.The character Detective Doyle ( played by actor John Hardy ) is a real throwack to the 1990´s police detective´s and he is a great match for this character. The mystery regarding the serial killer´s identity is actually not that predictable, so this is also a positive surprise for me. I have to say for being a Lifetime thriller i would say that this is a recommendation for me. The Moonlight Murders may not deliver anything original or fresh, but this really reminded me of good criminal TV movies of the 90´s. This is the kind of TV thriller you want to watch with a cup of tea, or a cup of coffee and just cozy in your sofa. If you miss the 90´s sometimes just like me, do yourself a favor and give The Moonlight Murders a chance. Director Ben Meyerson who starred in the 1996 cult classic thriller Freeway with Kiefer Sutherland, proves with this film there is still hope for TV thrillers in the future.

Rating: DDD