Death by Engagement (2007)

You might want to "stay single" after watching this movie...

On his wedding day, volatile Spencer gets ditched at the altar by his bride-to-be. He brutally attacks her and her bridesmaid as they try to drive away. After the car crashes, the police catch up to him still pummeling his bride-to-be into a bloody pulp. Officer Mallar shoots Spencer, but then spies the enormous engagement ring on the bride-to-be's bloody finger. Planning on proposing himself, Mallar quickly pockets the ring and replaces it with a much cheaper, cubic zirconium one. Spencer is pronounced clinically dead and the only thing keeping him barely alive is a life support system. Spencer's mother, Mrs. Starkington, places him in his old room and cares for him in his vegetative state. Meanwhile, Officer Mallar proposes to his girlfriend with the very diamond ring he stole from Spencer's now-dead fiance. Mallar's girlfriend is soon brutally murdered and the ring is passed on to the next victims. It seems that Spencer wants his precious family heirloom ring back, and will go to murderous lengths to retrieve it. Trouble is, whenever he finally tracks the ring down, it's already bounced to a new couple! As the ring passes from newly engaged couple to couple, these unlucky people are murdered left and right as the ring's rightful owner tries to get it back. It's up to detectives Rikki and Cade to connect the many different killings to the ring and to stop Spencer from striking again.

This movie is fun, smart, witty and feels fresh with its take on the slasher genre. The action gets started right away and keeps a steady pace throughout the film to the explosive finale. At the end of the movie, we are shown how the ring found its way to so many eclectic couples through chance events, which was quite entertaining to watch. It also ends up on the finger of someone that you would least suspect...

The acting was great and I especially loved Sascha Knopf as Detective Rikki who continually bashed girly flicks and stereotypical views of women. Aaron MacPherson was great as snarky Detective Cade and he and Knopf played perfectly off one another. The film even featured one of my all-time favorites, P.J. Soles, as the wacky Mrs. Starkington. Also included as some of the marriage-hungry women were Iyari Limon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Christa Campbell (2001 Maniacs). All of the characters were well-developed and had distinctive and amusing personalities. I loved seeing each couple's engagement, whether it was just to get laid or completely by mistake!

The story was pretty tight, with some twists and turns, though I had to suspend belief during some questionable plot points (Ahem, how did Rikki not know that was THE ring?). The only other thing I will bitch about is the editing between scenes. It seemed like all they used were fade-to-black transitions, which got pretty repetitive and even disruptive as the film went on. A little clarification within the story and some better editing would do wonders for this movie, but, nonetheless, I enjoyed it even with its flaws!

An inventive script and story, with a wonderful cast, Death by Engagement is an engagement you don't want to miss!

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