Jay Morgan has just met, fallen in love with, and married Kristin Ward, who is the spitting image of the beautiful, kind, generous, and abusive mother whom he pushed down the stairs to her death as a little boy. As an adult, Jay also physically disabled and subsequently paid off a former spouse, Ashley Brown. When Kristin moves in with Jay in Paradise Valley, she does not realize that she has just entered the gates of Hell.
No sooner than the newlyweds get settled than Jay's Aunt Barbara decides to file an injunction against Jay's plans for development in Paradise Valley, including a golf course that would displace thousands of middle-class residents. One thing leads to another, and Jay "accidentally" kills Barbara.
By now, Kristin is suspicious of her controlling and rage-a-holic husband. After she pays a visit to Ashley, who was crippled in another one of the "accidents" that befall the women in Jay's life, it is apparent to Kristin that she has married a monster.
My favorite characters in the film were Gus, Kristin's good friend at the Paradise Valley lodge, and Kristin's mom Annie, a clever deputy sheriff, who knew from the start that Kristin should not have rushed into her marriage with Jay. Both are suspicious of the slick and oily Jay Morgan.
The former Jay Adams changed his name to the maiden name of his mother Evelyn. Jay always held his mother up as an ideal, searching for women like Ashley and Kristin who resembled her physically. But in his twisted mind, he had no difficulty in pushing two of them down the stairs and attempting to shoot the third. It was due to the wise Aunt Barbara that her will was changed, leaving the entire Paradise Valley property in the name of Mrs. Kristin Morgan.
Due to the resourcefulness of three savvy women (Kristin, Annie, and Barbara), Paradise Valley will remain in good hands and will continue to be the idyllic retreat of an Elysian Fields in the Pacific Northwest.
No sooner than the newlyweds get settled than Jay's Aunt Barbara decides to file an injunction against Jay's plans for development in Paradise Valley, including a golf course that would displace thousands of middle-class residents. One thing leads to another, and Jay "accidentally" kills Barbara.
By now, Kristin is suspicious of her controlling and rage-a-holic husband. After she pays a visit to Ashley, who was crippled in another one of the "accidents" that befall the women in Jay's life, it is apparent to Kristin that she has married a monster.
My favorite characters in the film were Gus, Kristin's good friend at the Paradise Valley lodge, and Kristin's mom Annie, a clever deputy sheriff, who knew from the start that Kristin should not have rushed into her marriage with Jay. Both are suspicious of the slick and oily Jay Morgan.
The former Jay Adams changed his name to the maiden name of his mother Evelyn. Jay always held his mother up as an ideal, searching for women like Ashley and Kristin who resembled her physically. But in his twisted mind, he had no difficulty in pushing two of them down the stairs and attempting to shoot the third. It was due to the wise Aunt Barbara that her will was changed, leaving the entire Paradise Valley property in the name of Mrs. Kristin Morgan.
Due to the resourcefulness of three savvy women (Kristin, Annie, and Barbara), Paradise Valley will remain in good hands and will continue to be the idyllic retreat of an Elysian Fields in the Pacific Northwest.