The Bennetts, college rofessor Miles (Edward Bell) and his wife Sheri (Sharon Farrell) have raised an adoptive girl (Danielle Brisebois) from infancy. Sheri is the only mommy little Janie has ever known. Her biological mother, however, wants her back, having Janie stripped from her when she was committed to a mental institute.

At the asylum, Andrea (Ellen Barber), Janie's mother, met Jude ( Richard Lynch), who carries a torch for Andrea and has been searching for the little girl since his release from the asylum. As a carnival clown, Jude covers a lot of ground, and he reaches out to Andrea, shortly after her release, when he finally locates the girl. They plan to kidnap Janie, but when their plan backfires, Andrea regresses tremendously, treating a plastic doll like her own child, which ignites Jude's violent temper.

STORY $$$$: The title of the film comes from the link Sheri and Andrea share as mothers to Janie. Andrea has the unique ability of telepathy, and constantly torments Sheri with unsettling images. Sheri's husband reaches out to a parapsychologist (Chitra Neogy) in his department, who he has a schoolboy crush on, and she assists the Bennetts in overcoming Andrea's nightmarish influence. The story will keep your interest with the occasional twist and bump in the night. As for Andrea's mental instability, the police investigator (Jeff Corey) learns that she, a classically trained pianist, was institutionalized for playing a concert nude. If that's all it took to get thrust in a padded cell, 90% of today's female popstars would be right there with Andrea!

ACTING $$$: The acting is generally solid all around, with Farrell and Barber standing out. I'd match Sharon Farrell with any actress in history when it comes to conveying anguish and despair. She wears a woebegone appearance second to none. Ellen Barber, an unknown to me, gave quite a captivating performance, expertly pulling off a complicated role in Andrea. She's at times vulnerable, and volatile at others, and Ellen never crosses that line into overacting. Richard Lynch, whose resume for villains can be exhausting, is terrific as Jude, who wants to love Andrea but is tormented by her instability. I never thought Lynch got the credit he deserved as an actor, for most people seem to remember his appearance as a burn victim more than his obvious skills as a thespian.

SEX/NUDITY: None.