Play-by-play of Lifetime’s The Killer Downstairs

It’s Saturday night which means Lifetime has a new movie and this week it’s The Killer Downstairs: is it worth watching? Let’s take a look.

Imagine you’re a young girl living alone in a big house and you need to make some fast cash. The first thing you do is put your basement apartment up for rent on a Craigslist-esque website and let the first family man who volunteers move in, right?

That’s the general gist of the new Lifetime movie The Killer Downstairs: Is it worth watching? Let’s take a look at a play-by-play of the film’s highlights.

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Act One: Enter James

As I mentioned, Alison is struggling for some extra cash and seeking a renter for the bottom floor of her stately home. At present, Alison works at “Big Box Outlet Store” (how on Earth is she making enough money there to keep afloat at all?) while waiting to get back into the field of law, her true passion. The first guy Alison looks at specializes in “cripto currency (yes that spelling is what it says in the film)” red flag! Next he’ll be paying rent in bitcoins.

James shows up alone. He claims he and his wife split up and she has custody of his daughter, explaining the family-friendly photo he used to advertise himself online. Apparently, he *forgot* to update it and adds that he’ll be flying solo.

Alison, Red Flag #2! If he’s regularly using the renter site to find a place to live, how could he conveniently forget to update it? Clearly, the family angle is a ploy to get a foot in the door of an unsuspecting woman who lives alone!

By making breakfast on his first official morning, in Alison’s kitchen I might add, James wins her favor. They settle into the routine nicely, although at least Alison becomes a little uncomfortable with James freely walking to and fro from his space downstairs to hers above. Her best friend, Sarah, advises her to set some house rules.

Act Two: Everybody loves Alison

Speaking of Sarah, she’s too victim-blamey for my taste. After Alison discusses her boss, Mr. Matthews, inviting her to dinner to pick her brain over a legal issue she’s having, Sarah chides her best friend for “being nice to men like that”.

Though we all know her boss is a weirdo. He lurks from a window high above the rest like a king looking down from his tower, except his kingdom is half-priced patio furniture and hardware. (Not a single big box in sight, mind you).

If it wasn’t already apparent, every dude in The Killer Downstairs has the hots for Alison. First James is clearly interested, that’s the entire plot. Her boss is a lecherous old man and even Alison’s friend and former co-worker Michael used to have a crush on her. He pays her a visit at work and notices how weird Mr. Matthews acts towards her.

Alison has issues standing up to men (her ex-boyfriend was abusive and possessive so for some reason she doesn’t recognize the signs when they happen again but I digress). Over the dinner with her boss, he makes a pass at her. Luckily, James just happens to be there and comes to her rescue!

Why do stalkers in movies insist on the “I think the lady would like you to leave her alone,” line? I mean clearly Alison has two creeps breathing down her neck now. You would think James would have an easier time trolling Tinder for someone new to stalk than going through the motions of renting a new place and having to earn her trust and then terrorizing her.