The Survivors Club (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews (9)

Promising Beginning, Typical TV Movie Conclusion

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 7 September 2006]

After being raped by a serial killer, Jillian Hayes (Roma Downney), Carol Rosen (Jacqueline Bisset) and Meg Pesaturo (Lauren Lee Smith) found "The Survivors Club", and they use the press to force the police and justice to arrest the rapist. Eddie Como (Darren Shahlavi) is arrested, based on DNA evidences, and while going to court for trial, he is murdered by a sniper and the three women switch position from victims to suspects. Detective Roan Griffin (James Remar), who is traumatized by the brutal murder of his beloved wife by the manipulative killer David Price (Brian Markinson), joins the investigation with detective Fitz Fitzpatrick (Jerry Wasseman) trying to solve the case.

"The Survivors Club" has a promising and original premise, with victims trading positions to suspects after the murder of the prime suspect. The story is tense and keeps the mystery, but in the middle of the plot, the writer decides to have a romance between the detective and the suspect, and introduces a criminal that is a rip-off of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and spoils the good movie with a typical commercial conclusion of an ordinary TV movie. Anyway, this flick is a reasonable entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Clube de Sobreviventes" ("The Club of Survivors")

I survived this movie.

[OllieSuave-007 · 6/10 · 18 October 2014]

This is a TV movie starring Roma Downey as Jillian Hayes, who form a group called The Survivors Club with friends Carol Rosen (Jacqueline Bisset) and Meg Pesaturo (Lauren Lee Smith) after becoming victims to a serial rapist.

You got some nice suspense when the supposed rapist was killed by a sniper outside the courthouse and suddenly the three friends are the main suspects. That's a little exciting turn-of-events where the group have to clear their names and where the hunt for the real killer begins.

Downey did a nice, dramatic job in her role, but I thought the movie focused too much on her background and her misfortune; it would have been more relevant to see how the criminal events affected Carol and Meg as well. I also thought the subplot of the relationship between Jillian and Roan Griffin (James Remar) dragged the movie too much, and focus was turned away from the Survivors Club vs. bad guys plot.

But, it's an OK and average movie too waste some time with.

Grade C+

Pretty good

[vchimpanzee · 8 March 2004]

After three women are supposedly raped by the same man, they get together for regular meetings of 'The Survivors Club'. The suspected rapist, Eddie Como, is taken care of, but new evidence surfaces that suggests the rapist may still be out there. Besides, Eddie's wife seems very confident about her husband's innocence. Meanwhile, the three women are being investigated because they might have plotted revenge against Eddie, and two people are dead, possibly as a result of the women's actions.

There are numerous plot twists that make this movie really interesting. The movie is actually darkly funny at times, but it is very much a drama. A ridiculous romantic subplot is the only real weakness.

Brian Markinson delivers the best acting performance, ranging from comedic to chilling, as David Price, a serial killer with new information on the Eddie Como case that could get him a deal. Jacqueline Bisset is also quite good as one of the women, very convincing as she goes through a range of emotions. I thought most of the leading actors did a good job (though Roma Downey had a hard time hiding her Irish accent occasionally).

This movie had some violence, which was to be expected, and several tastefully (no private parts visible) filmed scenes where a woman is apparently nude after an attack, as well as scenes of women being attacked. The dialogue got somewhat graphic as the attacker's methods were described.

Overall, it was a better than average 'woman in jep' TV-movie.

You're better off reading the book...much better off.

[CDAnimorph · 1/10 · 8 March 2004]

I didn't know about this movie until the night it premiered, and I wish it hadn't been made at all. Loosely adapted by an amazingly well-written book by Lisa Gardner, The Survivors Club presented itself with terrible acting by people trying way too hard to tug at your heartstrings. In the end, you couldn't feel sorry for any of the rape victims, you could only laugh at the actresses playing the rape victims. Plus, the plot was muddled and totally messed up. If I hadn't read the book long before this movie, I would have been confused.

TV movies and movies based off a book already have reputations for being overdramatic and awful, with few exceptions, and this film didn't help anything. This was a complete waste of film, time, and money. Don't watch the TV movie based off another Lisa Gardner book, The Perfect Husband, either. Read the two books, and might I suggest The Next Accident, The Other Daughter, and The Killing Hour.

Awful... (Don't watch...)

[shaneizoid · 1/10 · 21 November 2022]

It's pretty clear from about 10minutes in that this is firmly in "Movie of the week" territory, so we, as the audience, aren't expecting too much!

But what we get is so bad and so full of plot holes and ridiculous acts, it's almost beyond belief.

Sleeping with a rape survivor is bad enough, but then the head detective decides, in his wisdom, to take her with him to a flippin prison... I mean, the guy has had his own trauma to deal with but come on.

I suppose a movie which begins with a presumed multiple rapist and murderer being marched into court in perfect view of a sniper isn't gonna get hung up on the details.

These police or more Naked Gun than NYPD blue.

Threatening suspects, tainting crime scenes, all in a day's work.

This movie is crap, plain as.

It takes a hackneyed plot and throws it in a bad movie trope blender.

The acting is more wooden than a tree.

You have been warned!

Pretty good, but the book is better

[doritos · 8/10 · 7 March 2004]

This movie was okay for a made-for-TV movie. Roma Downey did an excellent job. She made you feel all of her pain with each scream she gave. The only problem I have with the movie is the timeline. Everything seemed to be rushed and it's because it is a made-for-TV movie. You can't fit in the point of the story in just two hours with commercial interruptions.

Also, it needed to focus a little more on each one of the members of the Survivor's Club, rather than just Jillian. You kind of get lost in why certain things occur pertaining to Meg and Carol. I suggest that you read the book, same title, by Lisa Gardner. It will give you a better understanding in why certain things happened in the movie.

Other than that, I say it was a good movie.

Not the book, but well worth the time.

[demigrl · 8/10 · 30 January 2006]

After I saw this movie, I got the book out of library... Lisa Gardner is now my favorite author in the world. Her next book, GONE, comes out tomorrow, and I plan to be first in line. All in all, I thought the movie adaptation of The Survivors Club was quite good. Some of the major points of the plot were changed, and the ending was entirely different: the climax centers around Jillian and becomes a typical Hollywood scene, whereas in the book, the climax is more original and centered around Meg. And two of the women attacked in the movie were not, in the book, raped. However, these changes are understood; there is no way all of the complex twists and dives of Gardner's novel could make it into a two-hour movie. Some of the most powerful scenes in the book involve mind games and take place in the characters' heads, which obviously is hard to show on screen. And Roma Downey does an amazing job as Jillian; my high rating of this show is largely due to her performance, and I always see her now, when I read the book. So, Gardner fans, there will be differences. But it's still a good show, and I always love watching live characters tell a story that, till then, was only in the mind's eye.

'Silence of the Lambs' was good. This copy isn't.

[MovieDude-4 · 8 March 2004]

<***> SPOILER <***> Far too derivative of "Silence of the Lambs" and other great movies, this movie about a convicted killer/rapist/genius is extremely unbelievable. Not satisfied with making their killer extraordinarily gifted, able to cough up handcuff keys he has made somehow in prison, and able to out shoot two police officers with guns drawn on him after stealing a gun from one of three armed officers and shooting all three of them, they then imbue his supposed stooges with powers of movement that would not be out of place in a Chinese drama along with criminal skills that exceed believability. Add to that the lunatic 'motives' they foist on him and you have something that is hardly worth watching - a movie that trivializes the rape of women.

One of the Best Movies' "Halves" I've Ever Seen !

[elshikh4 · 1 February 2009]

Such a brilliant intro. Great interesting story lines through complicated mystery. Presenting important information, as well as a surprise, in every single scene. I found myself thinking, in thrill, and bound to my chair. All of that till the end of its first half, because after discovering that the murderer of the police detective's wife got a connection with this line of murders; the whole thing nearly collapsed for me !

The second half was whether forced or traditional. Yes, it wasn't predictable but sure it wasn't convincing though. And when they knew that one of the survivors club's members is a daughter of the first serial killer; I got the feeling that I was watching some Indian movie, or one of the 1980s' soap opera already. The performance was OK, but I think that the lead actor should have made more efforts.

It is a fair thrilling TV movie, but of course uneven, and disappointing according to its second half.