Wonderful character development!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Superb film dealing with a family that used the system to take full advantage and do the most horrendous things to people who were under their foster care.The film is marvelous as it is really a stinging indictment of the foster care system. That social worker saw all the symptoms of child abuse and chose instead to make notations, look at her watch and simply walk away.Kirstie Alley again proves that she is a magnificent dramatic actress as the devil of a mother. Teaching children how to steal, setting fire to real estate that she owned, having the most disgusting children herself, and married to a brute all come together to make such an outstanding film.The film is also a testimony to a criminal justice system that finally worked and meted out appropriate justice.This is a marvelous film which should be viewed by so many groups alike.

Hi..I am from Rhode Island and watched the movie. I vaguely remember hearing about this when it was discovered.BUT what surprised me the most was....in 2001 I hired a contractor to build an addition for me. He seemed like a nice enough guy and price was reasonable, (I called 7 companies and only got 3 prices..seemed like no one wanted to work).I had no idea who Raymond Burt was....well I found out at the end of the movie when I saw him and his family on the clips of them in the court room. What a shock that was.It was hard to imagine what the hell his life must have been like with a mother like his. He was pleasant and friendly and I would never have guessed what his family life was like. I can only hope he did what he did because his mother made him and not because he truly wanted to.The completed job was OK...a couple of things were not to my liking but that was subcontractors faults and Ray made up for them.Don't know where he is now or if still in business..but I hope he's not with his mother.....she is one scary BITCH!!!!!!

That was the best movie I have seen on TV in a very long time. We were just discussing this at work. I hope we see Kirstie Alley in more made for TV movies. She played a very convincing part and made us all very afraid of her. I must say that I haven't seen anything like it in a long time. I would like to see something on what has happened to this family since then. I really hate to find out that there are things like this going on and yet I realize that it does happen. I am really proud of the family members that stood up to her in the end. It was very courageous. Thank you for making us more aware of this type of thing and I hope everyone involved in this is doing well.

While the acting isn't superb in this made-for-television movie, the events occurring in it are excellent. This true story involves a prominent woman in the community, played by Kirstie Alley, that betrays single, struggling mothers. She manipulates one woman and has her and her daughter live in her rental property and she turns around and burns the house down, getting the woman to move into her own home. She locks the woman in the basement and raises her daughter as her own, teaching her to lie to social workers and steal from department stores. When the girl grows up, and has the baby of Kirstie Alley's son, she then goes to the police to help free her mother. But the story doesn't end here. Even in jail, Kirstie Alley wreaks havoc upon the lives of this mother, daughter, and grandson, both mentally and physically. Excellent movie, a must-see true life story.