ALONG CAME A SPIDER - Cable TV Film Review 2/12/06

Available on both Region 1 (USA) & Region 2 (UK) DVD I had struggled over the last few years to get around to seeing this prequel to "Kiss The Girls" and made strenuous efforts to avoid seeing anything about it; so that the game wasn't given away, like I'd done with the original film. How so? Well I was on my way to the cinema to watch "Kiss The Girls" and stopped off in a bookshop as I has an hour or so to kill and picked up the actual novel of the film and guess what (?) the major plot point of the whole film was on the back cover blurb - Now what sort of moron of a publisher would print the ending of the book on the cover? Amazing isn't it? I nearly didn't bother going to see the film but Morgan Freeman was in it so that persuaded me.
Seeing a picture of Michael Wincott I immediately said out loud "he's the villain!" and I was right about one part of the plot; but the quality cast soon pulled a fast one and things soon spun out of control as this mildly tense thriller started to get it's hooks into you. What would be really nice is if the Cable Channels could get together with TV Listing Mags and organise their schedules so that these films start at the correct time instead of half an hour later - So annoying!! Morgan Freeman never puts a foot wrong as his dulcet tone of voice lulls you into a false sense of security as the plot gradually reveals itself. A class act all round - But the original film was far superior in tone and style - This one seemed more like an afterthought. Still entertaining enough to past 120 mins on a late Friday night into the early hours.