Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret - 2013 ***

Really creepy movie, about a woman named Jodi who becomes obsessed with a religious man she meets named Travis. Travis isn't after any sort of commitment unless it's with someone from his church (although he's happy to jump into bed with her as much as possible) and this leads to mixed messages, added to which his friends aren't all that keen on her either. Jodi obsessively believes they are meant to be together forever and hopes they will get married, and Travis already has his eye on a new woman he feels he is more suited too. It's just that by the time he gets round to telling Jodi about his true feelings, she is already in too deep and he has no escape. 

Disturbing and I'm not sure how realistic it is. 

The Husband She Met Online - 2013 ***

What actually happened here? It was like the director suddenly decided he had to drop everything with only a day's notice. The story, having started out at a good pace about a successful businessman who meets and falls in love with a beautiful and attentive woman suddenly takes off at a roaring pace and within twenty minutes *spoiler* the woman is chained to the bed, the couple are married, the woman is kidnapped by the husband who has suddenly turned into a maniac of epic proportions, the couple are found and the husband is arrested. It's a bit of a shame, because it could've been a much better film if it had slowed itself down a bit. 

Compulsion - 2013 ***

I don't know what I was expecting with this film, but whatever it was, it didn't happen. In fact nothing happened. The most shocking thing according to film critics was how much padding Heather Graham was wearing to 'big herself up' into a typical 1950s housewife. Apparently the look made her 'a bit overweight' which scared the living daylights out of me, as there is nothing overweight about her and makes you worry about the American size system. 

A woman obsessed with food spends her days cooking amazing meals for her grumpy, parrot obsessed boyfriend who couldn't be less interested in her if he tried. An anorexic, former child star moves in across the hall and doesn't speak to anyone for love nor money. 

Gradually the pair open up to each other and form a bond that proves fatal.

A strange film, very weird and quite surreal, just appeared to move a bit slowly. 

(HORROR) Antisocial - 2014 ***

This was a surprisingly original horror about what happens when people become too addicted to social networking sites. A recently single girl goes to her friend's house for New Year's Eve and one by one the other people in the house become fatally infected after visiting a chat site called 'The Red Room' (obviously a nod towards Facebook). Its up to the lead to save the day. I was quite impressed and liked the fact it tries to warn people off wasting their time on sites like that.

(HORROR) Children of Sorrow - 2014 ****

Despite saying 2013 on the poster it wasn't released until a year later. 'Children of Sorrow' is a nightmare of epic proportions. It's what happens when people believe in a person who convinces them that he can make their time on earth worthwhile. Inevitably that person is wrong, and usually very evil.
A woman tries to find out what happened to her sister who mysteriously died after joining a cult, but in doing so becomes obsessed with the place herself.
Scary, because this can and has happened.

The Magic Box - 1951 ****

William Friese Green is a pretty fascinating character. Besotted with his work to the point of obsession, he was willing to break up his family, declare himself bankrupt and sell his house, also that he could continue with his experiments of moving pictures. That said however, he was also one of the most unsung geniuses of the 19the century. It is very tragic that his talent was not recognised until after his death. 

Robert Donat is perfect for the part, and I find him immensely watchable in this character, both for positive and negative reasons. His passion for his craft is clear to see, but in some aspects he is completely deluded and unresponsive (such as not paying bills because the money needs to go on equipment for his experiments). I do feel awfully sorry for him though, because no one would give him a chance to show what he could do. 

Maternal Obsession - 2008 ***

 Gripping movie about a young woman named Lily who tries to live a normal life whilst being slowly smothered by her mother at home. The mother cannot stand the idea of her daughter having any sort of life, especially if it involves a man.
When Lily starts a relationship with a man from work her mother will do anything to stop it happening, whatever the costs.
Worth a watch.

Lying Eyes - 1996 ***

This was quite a good storyline. Usually the plots of these Lifetime films follow the same type of formula and I was no different here.
A young and attractive cheerleader becomes the obsession of an older man that she meets at one of her performances. Little does she know that he is married with children, and once their relationship has become intense she also falls prey to an unnamed stalker, intent on cutting the affair off once and for all.
Worth a watch.

Eye of the Stalker - 1995 ****

'Eye of the Stalker' is a suitably creepy film from the nineties. It is estimated that 5% of the female population in America will be stalked at some point during their lifetime, and this is one of the stories.
A young art student named Beth becomes the obsession of a disturbed individual named Stephen who catches sight of her at the University he teaches (the same one she attends). Once he has her in his sights he becomes fixated on her every move and begins to intrude on her life and try to split up her relationship with her boyfriend. With many stalkers, 'no' is not in their vocabulary, so when he is told to stay away from her by her mother (a prominent judge in the area) it only serves to ignite his intense feelings for her.
It's a scary film, and I think stalking is a very real and very terrifying problem that needs to be stamped out as soon as possible.

An Unfinished Affair - 1996 *** 1/2

Not a bad film at all, especially considering all the actors are practically unknown. Explores the lengths of obsession that one woman will go to when the married man she is seeing breaks off their affair. She will do anything to have her revenge, even seducing his younger son.
Good performances. Jennie Garth should be more famous.

The Roommate - 2011 ****

Yes, this film is very like 'Single White Female', so if you are one of the vast population who has seen that then you won't be surprised. However I'm quite a fan of obsessive friendship/relationship films, so I wasn't too bothered about roughly knowing what was going on. Many of you will notice that the joint lead is Leighton Meester from 'Gossip Girl.' This actress could not play a more different character if she tried. I watched the film thinking 'she must be loving playing this part!'

Minka Kelly plays a student named Sara who gets assigned a new roommate named Rebecca. Things start off well and both girls bond. But when Sara starts dating someone and hanging out with another girl, Rebecca's true colours come out and she becomes a total nutcase, obsessive of everything Sara does and who she is with. Several eerie events make up Sara's mind that she doesn't want anything to do with Rebecca anymore, but Rebecca isn't letting her go that easily...

In all fairness, the acting from these 2 girls was amazing. Meester really can act and I will never stereotype her as the ditzy girl from 'Gossip Girl' again. Billy Zane also pops up as Sara's art teacher who can't stop hitting on female students in a half funny and half creepy way. Don't take the film too seriously, as 'Single White Female' is a better crafted example of female obsession, but 'The Roommate' is certainly not far behind.