Deadly Family Secrets (1995) Online

A woman trying to visit her sister in the small town of millstone, becomes a witness to brutal murder. After witnessing this brutal crime she finally gets to her sisters with one big complication the murderer is too close to home then she realizes but doesnt figure it out right away

**SPOILERS** Traveling down from L.A to the little town of Rocky Valley Texas to see her sister Linda, Gigi Rice,that she hasn't seen for some 15 years Martha, Lonie Anderson, get's caught up with the towns dirty little secret that involves her little sister's ex-convict husband Eddie, Greg Evigan.

Stepping off the bus Martha sees Eddie and a gang of hooded and club swinging goons chase beat and, with Eddie taking off his ski-cap, shoot this man Larson, Bobby Sargent, to death. Reporting the Larson murder to the police Martha doesn't realize hat Larson's killer is her bother-in-law which causes a lot of friction between her and her sister whom she's staying with.

Friendly at first Eddie notices that Martha is a bit weary, if not very fearful, of him every time he's in the same room with her! Later, even before Martha told Eddie what she knew about him, Eddie puts all his suspicions about Martha into prospective, in that she knows that he's a murderer, and become outright hostile towards her.

Having reported Larson's murder to the police Martha is stuck in Rocky Valley since she's to be called as a witness at D.A Akin's, William Converse, inquiry and grand jury in Larson's death. At the same time ,by being the only eye witness to the murder, have the towns power-broker and man Doyle Potter, Barry Corbin, is behind the Larson's murder as well as that of the murder of farmer Archie Maddox, Joe Stevens, the week before. Both Larson & Maddox were in the way of Potter getting built a giant industrial park that will will make him millions.

Potter a large and very violent man with an asthmatic condition, he's always using an inhaler even when he's got his head covered with a ski-mask, is determined to keep Martha from talking and wrecking his planes to make Rocky Valley the envy of the Lone Star State, even if he has to get her killed by doing it. Martha for her part in bringing out what she knows about Larson's murder and the person who murdered him her sister's husband Eddie, who not only works for Potter as a grease monkey but is also one of his top henchmen, has put Linda and both her and Eddie's children Timmy and Emily lives in very serious danger.

Potter and his hoods put the squeeze on Martha by at first trying to get her to shut up by scaring her off and later going so far as planting a bomb in her motel room, that almost kills her and Linda, and even try to run her down in front a number of witnesses in front of the Broken Spoke Bar where Linda works as a waitress.

Martha really gets under Potter's skin when she tracks down, at a school for troubled and mentally impaired children, little Tina with the help of Potter's guilt-ridden old lady Hilda, Anganette Comer, who it turns out is the late Archie Maddox's daughter. Potter put Tina in that school under the falsified name of Katie Bass, and is the person legally entitled to her father's property, the property that Potter bought after his death at a state auction!

With his far flung real-estate empire about to got to pot, and him ending up behind bars, Potter pulls out all stops getting his gang of murdering cutthroats to go so far as to kidnap Eddie's children Timmy and Emily and then shoot down the now wiser but a still a bit naive Eddie.

Martha behind the wheel of her car seeing the now crazed and out of his bird Potter about to finish off the down on the ground and badly wounded Eddie floors the accelerate and barrels her car into Potter's massive, from too many six-packs, frame. Thus putting an end to both him and his ambitions to be the top dog in the world of Texas real-estate.

This is a very good remake of the 1950 Warner Brothers film noir drama, "Storm Warning" starring Ginger Rogers, Doris Day, Ronald Reagan and Steve Cochran.

I was surprised how good this was, for I had never appreciated Loni Anderson and didn't think she LOOKED the part, but her acting was very convincing in this.

The story has changed slightly, but the premise is the same about the KKK and its intimidation tactics. The ending in this one is not as dramatic as the former film in which the Doris Day character is killed by the Klan. Here, she lives and we have a "happy ending." Note: "Storm Warning" is now out on DVD. It's interesting to see Doris play against her childhood heroine, Ginger Rogers, who, like Loni is good in the leading role. Also of interest, Loni says that "Doris Day is my hero, I love everything about her. She's my favorite movie star."

Color takes the "mystery" out of the "film noir" quality that was ever present in its b/w predecessor.