The Stranger Beside Me (1995)

It's What You Don't Know That Can Kill You

When I first checked this movie out in a local video store I wasn't expecting much. the first thing that turned me off was the that it was a Lifetime Original, not that lifetime movies are bad but they are usually very generic and over dramatic. But the cover of the movie had something that made me change my mind; the look kind of spooky so I picked it up. After viewing it I was surprised to say that it was worth the try, the movie is wonderfully paced and has a well brought out story.

The film begins with Jennifer (played by Tiffany Amber Thiessen) a young single girl who meets the wrong guy. At first this guy seems nice, wants to help, and even wants to marry and establish a family. Everything goes wrong when they start living together; he becomes a peeping tom and rapist. She begins to suspect on him when he arrives late and begins to lie. Now the story may be a bit generic but the actors do such a good job at bringing something new to an old story that in the end it feels like a whole different story. Great solid flick, it will make me think twice about Lifetime Originals.


MY PERSONAL RATING: 4 OUT OF 5
December 26, 2007

Not the best movie I've ever seen, but entertaining enough

Tiffani Amber Thiessen plays Jennifer, a woman who marries a man whose past is full of secrets. Initially Jennifer is happy when Chris asks her to marry him. He wants to join the Navy and he promises to protect her. But when they move to California strange things start happening on base--a peeping Tom starts looking in women's windows and eventually women start being raped. Jennifer's husband admits that he looked in some windows but promises that nothing else happened. Since Jennifer is pregnant, she decides to give him a second chance. When they return home to New Mexico, once again women are being raped and Jennifer begins to suspect that her husband is to blame.

The Stranger Beside Me is classic Lifetime. Tiffani Amber Thiessen has made some of my favorite Lifetime movies, including She Fought Alone, and she excels in her role as a wife who can't trust her husband. This movie isn't great by any means, but if you're in the mood for a little drama that will keep you entertained, you don't have to look much further than this. November 17, 2007

The Stranger is Close

What a surprise, after watching Eric Close in Magnificent Seven as Vin Tanner and Without A Trace as Martin Fitzgerald, to see him playing a totally remorseless sexual predator. Yes, he's really good looking and uses that beautiful smile, but he slowly makes it clear that there is something seriously wrong with his character. He and Tiffani Theissen look like your all-American couple, but one of them is a manipulator of the first order, and the other is vulnerable and trusting. It's fascinating to watch evil unfolding and Close makes you a believer mainly with his eyes. There's obsession and insanity revealed in those baby blues. October 1, 2007

Classic Lifetime Movie

A girl marries guy that she doesn't truly know. He has a dark side that leads him to start raping women in their neighborhood. If you like Lifetime movies and chick flicks this is a movie for you. Not Oscar worthy but definitely entertaining. September 21, 2007

Not the best!

I don't know what I thought I would get, but I didn't get it. It was cheap! That's all I can say. June 19, 2007

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