Adopting Terror
Director: Micho Rutare
Starring: Sean Astin, Samaire Armstrong, Monet Mazur, Brendan Fehr, and Michael Gross
Studio: The ASYLUM Home Entertainment
ASIN: B008CLI45M
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Running Time: 90 minutes
Unrated

Adopting Terror aired on Lifetime earlier this year, in which I didn't watch it because I don't care for most of the channel's programming. The movie was made by Asylum Home Entertainment, whom I have reviewed a few DVDs for this year, and they nicely let me view an online screening of Adopting Terror through Fordela.

The movie stars Sean Astin and Samaire Armstrong as Tim and Cheryl Broadbent, who are proud parents of their newly adopted daughter, Mona. Just when they are adjusting to being a family, a stranger shows up at Mona's first birthday party. The stranger is Mona's birthfather, Kevin Anderson (played by Brendan Fehr), who was released from prison on a technicality.

Kevin follows Cheryl while she is grocery shopping, he shows up at their house, and he even shows up at their friend's home to mow the yard. The police can't help them as there is no real proof that he is stalking them. The social worker, Fay Hopkins (played Monet Mazur), tries to give them advice on the situation, but nothing seems to helps as Kevin is determined to take back his daughter.

    I would have to say Abraham Lincoln has always been my favorite president. As a kid, I read books about him, and I did an oral report on Abe for my 6th grade history class, where we got to dress up like someone historically famous. Years later, I learned through genealogy that Abe is a distant cousin. Now it looks like Hollywood has become interested in him, again, with the upcoming horror flick Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, and Steven Spielberg’s bio Lincoln. In addition, The ASYLUM has released their own horror flick titled Abraham Lincoln VS Zombies, in which they have nicely sent me a complimentary DVD for this review.

 It seems like zombie tales have been done to death since the success of The Walking Dead, but as I am a zombie and an Abe fan, I was intrigue by the title. The prologue shows that a young Abe had to kill his mother, after she was an infected with a zombie virus, with a sickle. (What a horrible thing to experience at a young age.) Years go by and Abe is now President of the Untied States during the great American Civil War.

It seems like the old Grimm’s fairy tales are becoming popular again thanks to the television series Once Upon A Time, and of course the lackluster comedy Mirror, Mirror and the dark Snow White and the Huntsman. Early this year The ASYLUM brought out their own titled Grimm’s Snow White to DVD starring Eliza Bennett (Inkheart), Jamie Thomas King, and Jane March on a much lower budget.

    The plot follows the basic Snow White formula, but there are a number of differences. After Snow's father is eaten by a lizard-dragon, Prince Alexander arrives shortly after and offers to marry the now widowed Queen Gwendolyn. After rejecting his offer (for now), the Prince meets the beautiful Snow White and he instantly falls for her. Meanwhile, the Queen’s mirror tells her that Snow is fairer than her, therefore she sends her huntsman to take Snow into the forest and murder her.

    Snow is rescued by elves. The huntsman is forced to kill an innocent man and brings his heart to the Queen, telling her it belongs to her stepdaughter. The Prince is heartbroken, while the Queen is thrilled as her plan to rule the kingdom is unfolding, which includes destroying the elves and taking their magic. The magical elves are the dwarfs in this tale, and they take the poor Snow into their home.