Shelley Gillen, the writer of A Sister's Nightmare, also wrote A Mother's Nightmare and A Daughter's Nightmare. A Sister's Nightmare is probably the worst of these three. It is about a pair of sisters, one is insane and just came out of a mental hospital, and the relatively sane for a Lifetime movie. The "twist" ending was not much of a surprise for me being that I guessed it half way through the movie. The acting in the movie was decent. The editing was as good as any other Lifetime movie. Overall, if you like Lifetime movies this is an average one. I recommend A Daughter's Nightmare or A Mother's Nightmare instead of this.

A SISTER'S NIGHTMARE

BASIC PLOT: Jane (nm000539) is a police officer, who is trying to raise teenage Emily (Peyton List) with her fiance, Phil (Matthew Settle).

Emily (Peyton List) is having nightmares and panic attacks about drowning. They are debilitating, requiring medication.

Cassidy, Jane's sister, (Natasha Henstridge) is finally being released from the mental hospital, after 15 years. She's been drugged and given shock treatments while inside. She's had no contact with her sister, and is very much alone in this world.

Meanwhile, Jane continues to have bloody flashbacks, about an incident in a bathroom. In the flashback, there's a dead man next to a bathtub full of water, and an injured woman.

Jane continues to imply Cassidy is a danger, but it is Jane's behavior that is becoming increasingly bizarre. Jane sits up all night on guard, she puts deadbolts on on the bedroom doors, and she puts bars on all the windows. Is Cassidy as unstable as Jane continues to espouse, or is something else amiss here? Why does Cassidy say she's going to take Emily away with her, and why is Emily so afraid of water?

WHAT WORKS: *The sisters are afraid of each other, but because we are only given bits and pieces, we don't know who's side to be on.

*The pace of the unveiling of the plot is right on the money. It doesn't reveal too much to soon, but it's not so slow, boredom sets in either.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *I hate movies that use the word sis. No one who has a sister calls them sis, myself included.

*The doctors at the mental hospital say Cassidy's last name is Rydert, the same as Jane's, but Cassidy was married to a man named Brian. Shouldn't she have his last name?

*There's a continuity error at about the 1hr mark. Emily and Phil have just had a conversation about the bars on the windows, but in the very next scene, Jane drives up, and there are no bars to be seen.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: I would recommend this movie, it is a higher quality made-for-tv movie, probably because of the two leads Natasha Henstridge & Kelly Rutherford, whom are both experienced actresses. The plot is also more taught than most of these, it unveiles itself in an enjoyable way, without a lot of clunky or unbelievable nonsense. It manages to avoid the pitfalls so many of these made-for-tv movies can't escape.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.