Bad Ronald: Buzz Kulik

There's a decent idea for a movie in Buzz Kulik's Bad Ronald. The film is about Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby), an asocial young man living with his overbearing mother who occupies a world of fantasy of his own creation. When he accidentally kills a young girl, his mother helps him escape prosecution by claiming that he ran away. But in reality, he holes himself up in a makeshift room behind one of the walls. When his mother suddenly dies, Ronald becomes completely cut off from the outside world and disappears into his own delusions. When a new family moves into the house, they have no idea that it has another occupant. And even worse, they have no idea that Ronald has become infatuated with their youngest daughter and believes that she is his princess. As I said, the plot has some potential. I wonder what Alfred Hitchcock could have done with this material. But unfortunately, Bad Ronald was a made-for-TV movie and therefore suffers from time constraints. Several plot points are either dwelled upon for too long (Ronald's back-story) or rushed (the last ten minutes feel like they tried to cram in about thirty minutes worth of story). But, to the film's credit, it does contain some legitimately creepy moments, most of them courtesy of Jacoby's understated yet excellent performance.

6/10