Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime film, Fatal Flip!

Why Was I Watching It?

With a name like Fatal Flip, I was thinking that this film might be another Lifetime cheerleader film.  And, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, one of my favorite Lifetime films of all time is Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal.  I figured I could watch the movie and then ask Dazzling Erin whether or not Fatal Flip was an accurate portrayal of the dangerous world of cheerleading.

What Was It About?

Well, it quickly became obvious that Fatal Flip had absolutely nothing to do with cheerleading.  Instead, it turned out that Fatal Flip was about the dark side of house flipping.

Alex (Dominique Swain) and her boyfriend Jeff (Michael Steger) max out their credit cards so that they can buy a colonial house that they plan to fix up and then sell for a profit.  At first, Alex and Jeff are convinced that they can fix up the entire house on their own but then it turns out that Jeff is kind of a whiny little wimp.

Fortunately, while at the hardware store, Jeff meets Nate (Mike Faiola).  Nate knows everything about home improvement.  He also wears a lot of plaid.  Anyway, Nate agrees to help Jeff and Alex fix up the house.  And, because this is a Lifetime movie, neither Jeff nor Alex have any problem with Nate moving in with them.

However, Nate has secrets of his own.  For instance, there’s the woman who he previously sealed up in a wall.  Plus, he has a beard which, in the world of Lifetime, is always a huge red flag.

And, of course, he wears a lot of plaid…

What Worked?

The whole film was about redecorating a house so I definitely enjoyed that.  One of the fun things about watching a movie on Lifetime is that a lot of attention is always paid to the interior of everyone’s house.  Fatal Flip took that tendency to its logical extreme.

What Did Not Work?

Obviously, a movie like this always requires a certain suspension of disbelief.  But seriously, Fatal Flip took it just a little too far.  Nate was so obviously unhinged that it was impossible to believe that anyone could be stupid enough to not realize it.

Add to that, a better title for the film would have been The Plaid Killer.  Because, seriously, when it came to Nate, it was nonstop plaid.

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

Much like Alex, I also enjoy making houses look nice and salable.  (Though I do have to say that I’m kind of surprised that she never changed the wallpaper in the living room.  Seriously, that was bothering me through the entire film.)

Lessons Learned

House flipping is not as glamorous as HGTV would have you believe.