While the acting isn't superb in this made-for-television movie, the events occurring in it are excellent. This true story involves a prominent woman in the community, played by Kirstie Alley, that betrays single, struggling mothers. She manipulates one woman and has her and her daughter live in her rental property and she turns around and burns the house down, getting the woman to move into her own home. She locks the woman in the basement and raises her daughter as her own, teaching her to lie to social workers and steal from department stores. When the girl grows up, and has the baby of Kirstie Alley's son, she then goes to the police to help free her mother. But the story doesn't end here. Even in jail, Kirstie Alley wreaks havoc upon the lives of this mother, daughter, and grandson, both mentally and physically. Excellent movie, a must-see true life story.
14 Reviews
Kirstie Alley Gives a Strong Performance
savanna-220 March 2004
Bring it on and Kirstie Alley does and then some. Doesn't hit a false note in Family Sins. From her sunny suburban mom persona too the outright brutal cruelty w. her family, she is the master manipulator.
She is just bone chilling in this role. It was great to see her in top form and thought the supporting cast was stellar. Just check out the stepford children and the long suffering Marie and Nadine, not to mention the son-in-law unfortunate enough to marry into this mess.
While Will Patton doesn't give the strongest of performances, his role as the prosecutor out to "get the Gecks," is solid.
All in all a good film about a very tragic story.
She is just bone chilling in this role. It was great to see her in top form and thought the supporting cast was stellar. Just check out the stepford children and the long suffering Marie and Nadine, not to mention the son-in-law unfortunate enough to marry into this mess.
While Will Patton doesn't give the strongest of performances, his role as the prosecutor out to "get the Gecks," is solid.
All in all a good film about a very tragic story.
House of Horrors
sol-kay7 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILERS** True story of the notorious as well as severally dysfunctional Geck, the fictional name in the movie, family headed by the 800 pound gorilla in the room or the movie the Geck family matriarch Brenda Geck played by, who must have gained at least 100 pounds for the role, actress Kirstie Alley. It was Brenda's love of children that had her adopt almost a dozen of them in order to give them a home in her over-sized New Hampshire home with all the goodies that they can possibly have or need. The goodies were in fact stolen by the children at Mrs. Geck's insistence by having them shop lift the merchandise from local stores and shopping malls.
It's when one of the Geck clan the diagnosed mentally retarded Marie Devereaux, Deanna Milligan, just had enough of Mrs. Geck both mantel and physical abuse that she went to the local county D.A Philip Rothman, Will Patton, for help! With D.A Rothman not believing Marie's accusations against Mrs. Beck, Rothman was in fact a good friend of her's, she went public on local TV to tell her story. This had the by now deranged Mrs. Beck throw a fit and almost have Marie killed by her slum buildings enforcer Leroy , Viv Leacock, who also did part time work for Mrs. Geck as an arsonist.
Marie who by then had a child by her boyfriend Barry Crandell, Tygh Runyan, who's also an adopted member, like Marie, of the Geck family didn't want her child Jeremy, Brandon Baylis, to end up like she did. A mental misfit as well as trained, by Mrs Geck, shop lifter and arsonist! In fact the father of Marie may well be Mrs. Geck's filthy swine of a husband Kenneth, Kevin McNulty, who's been having occasional sex with her mom Nadine, Kathleen Wilhoite, for the last 20 or so years. It was Nadine who was kept by Mrs. Geck locked up in the basement all that time where she eventually lost her sense of reality that resulted her suffering from a sever case of Stockholm Syndrome. In fact Nadine was so brainwashed by Mrs. Geck that she actually thought that what she was doing to her her daughter and the other members of the Geck household was in their best interests!
As the evidence started to mount against the Geck family's criminal operations D.A Rothman started to put the heat on her and her family of mentally unbalanced psychos that also included her # 1 son Joey, David Rihmond Peck, who together with strong-arm man Leroy did all the dirty work for her. Put into a safe house together with her mom and little boy Jeremy Marie was still harassed and threatened by Mrs. Geck, who was at the time behind bars awaiting trial, with her outside the family enforcer Leroy tracking her down and on one occasion torching her car.
***SPOILERS*** In the end the Geck's, Brenda Kenneth and Joey, got all that was coming to them in long prison sentences and heavy, that amounted in over $300,00.00, fines when they were convicted of a slew of charges that also included unlawful imprisonment of Nadine Devereaux. All that thanks to Marie testifying against them in open court.
Very disturbing but true movie about man's, or in Mrs. Geck's case woman's, inhumanity to man. Brenda Geck and her accomplices were able to get away with their crimes for so long because of the terror they instilled on their many victims. A terror so great that those victimized were far more afraid of them the Beck's in what they could do to them then in having faith in the power of the law that was there to protect them. There was also the fact that the Geck's were held is such high respect that no one not even the local D.A would ever believe them in the first place! It was Marie's great courage in not only going public but risking her life, in being murdered by one of Mrs. Geck's goons, that finally put the Geck's behind bars for good!
It's when one of the Geck clan the diagnosed mentally retarded Marie Devereaux, Deanna Milligan, just had enough of Mrs. Geck both mantel and physical abuse that she went to the local county D.A Philip Rothman, Will Patton, for help! With D.A Rothman not believing Marie's accusations against Mrs. Beck, Rothman was in fact a good friend of her's, she went public on local TV to tell her story. This had the by now deranged Mrs. Beck throw a fit and almost have Marie killed by her slum buildings enforcer Leroy , Viv Leacock, who also did part time work for Mrs. Geck as an arsonist.
Marie who by then had a child by her boyfriend Barry Crandell, Tygh Runyan, who's also an adopted member, like Marie, of the Geck family didn't want her child Jeremy, Brandon Baylis, to end up like she did. A mental misfit as well as trained, by Mrs Geck, shop lifter and arsonist! In fact the father of Marie may well be Mrs. Geck's filthy swine of a husband Kenneth, Kevin McNulty, who's been having occasional sex with her mom Nadine, Kathleen Wilhoite, for the last 20 or so years. It was Nadine who was kept by Mrs. Geck locked up in the basement all that time where she eventually lost her sense of reality that resulted her suffering from a sever case of Stockholm Syndrome. In fact Nadine was so brainwashed by Mrs. Geck that she actually thought that what she was doing to her her daughter and the other members of the Geck household was in their best interests!
As the evidence started to mount against the Geck family's criminal operations D.A Rothman started to put the heat on her and her family of mentally unbalanced psychos that also included her # 1 son Joey, David Rihmond Peck, who together with strong-arm man Leroy did all the dirty work for her. Put into a safe house together with her mom and little boy Jeremy Marie was still harassed and threatened by Mrs. Geck, who was at the time behind bars awaiting trial, with her outside the family enforcer Leroy tracking her down and on one occasion torching her car.
***SPOILERS*** In the end the Geck's, Brenda Kenneth and Joey, got all that was coming to them in long prison sentences and heavy, that amounted in over $300,00.00, fines when they were convicted of a slew of charges that also included unlawful imprisonment of Nadine Devereaux. All that thanks to Marie testifying against them in open court.
Very disturbing but true movie about man's, or in Mrs. Geck's case woman's, inhumanity to man. Brenda Geck and her accomplices were able to get away with their crimes for so long because of the terror they instilled on their many victims. A terror so great that those victimized were far more afraid of them the Beck's in what they could do to them then in having faith in the power of the law that was there to protect them. There was also the fact that the Geck's were held is such high respect that no one not even the local D.A would ever believe them in the first place! It was Marie's great courage in not only going public but risking her life, in being murdered by one of Mrs. Geck's goons, that finally put the Geck's behind bars for good!
possible *spoiler* I thought Kirstie Alley was awesome
leopardskin-116 March 2004
Warning: Spoilers
I thought Kirstie Alley was awesome in this role. When foster daughter Marie runs away from the Geck family home in search of assistance, she finds no sympathetic ear. The Geck's are philanthropic pillars of their community, and on friendly terms with politicians and other high profile residents. In the beginning, you only catch glimpses of the Gecks true colors, so it is easy to see how they could charm such a great deal of people, even though they give the viewer an uneasy feeling. As the story unfolds, Brenda Geck (head of the house of horrors) slowly reveals herself. I'm wondering if they chose to do this movie now, because the Burts (who the movie was loosely based on) are up for parole? If you like "movies of the week," this is a great one for Chinese food and a night at home. Not once was I bored watching this, and Kirstie's powerful performance washes away any weak characters.
book on the family
ram1500-540-95341526 September 2009
A book on this family is coming out you can see some information on it at WWW.Familysins.com this family has done so many bad things and I am ashamed of most of them while i was not arrested with them I bare the burden of the name as they are my mother, father brothers and sister. I have wrestled with this for years about telling all. and because my kids are older and asking questions have decided to tell it all in hopes to answer all the questions. This book covers the Arsons, Rapes, Abuse and many many many more things the public was never told because the state chose not to cloud the waters with any more counts. deep inside the walls of the family compound for years kids of all ages lived in fear.
Kirstie Alley Gave a Fantastic Performance!
whpratt116 March 2004
This is a very horrible sad and depressing TRUE STORY, which makes it even worse to view. Kirstie Alley,(Brenda Geck),"Back by Midnight",'02, put her heart and soul into this horrible role and made you hate her over and over again. Will Patton,(Philip Rothman),"The Agency",'01 TV Series, acted his usual calm ways and was soft spoken, but very powerful in his building a case against Brenda Geck. It is a shame that such a person did exists and did so much mental and physical harm too so very many people's lives. It is a great film to alert the general public as to what can actually happen in their own neighborhoods or even your next door friend. It was nice to see Kirstie Alley give such a great performance in this very sick TRUE STORY!
Wow What An Amazing movie
2btchy4u15 March 2004
That was the best movie I have seen on TV in a very long time. We were just discussing this at work. I hope we see Kirstie Alley in more made for TV movies. She played a very convincing part and made us all very afraid of her. I must say that I haven't seen anything like it in a long time. I would like to see something on what has happened to this family since then. I really hate to find out that there are things like this going on and yet I realize that it does happen. I am really proud of the family members that stood up to her in the end. It was very courageous. Thank you for making us more aware of this type of thing and I hope everyone involved in this is doing well.
Kathleen Wilhoite great as abuse victim, Kirstie Alley made it easier to watch
vchimpanzee21 March 2004
This was such a terrible story. If it hadn't been Kirstie Alley playing this despicably cruel character, I don't think I could have watched it.
This seemed like a normal family, respected by the community because of their charity efforts, and because the parents took in so many foster children. But the Geck children, and the foster children, were forced to steal, and the Gecks owned apartment buildings which mysteriously caught fire when certain tenants didn't pay rent. And the disabled mother of one foster child was kept locked in the basement.
Kathleen Wilhoite did such a good job as a girl treated so harshly she apparently couldn't feel pain any more. She seemed almost happy with her life because she didn't know any better. That was just sad.
I'm not sure which would have been worse: that these people were real, or that someone could have been sick enough to make up this story. The story, unfortunately, was true. I wish it hadn't been. Still an entertaining presentation.
This seemed like a normal family, respected by the community because of their charity efforts, and because the parents took in so many foster children. But the Geck children, and the foster children, were forced to steal, and the Gecks owned apartment buildings which mysteriously caught fire when certain tenants didn't pay rent. And the disabled mother of one foster child was kept locked in the basement.
Kathleen Wilhoite did such a good job as a girl treated so harshly she apparently couldn't feel pain any more. She seemed almost happy with her life because she didn't know any better. That was just sad.
I'm not sure which would have been worse: that these people were real, or that someone could have been sick enough to make up this story. The story, unfortunately, was true. I wish it hadn't been. Still an entertaining presentation.
Family Sins Outstanding with Kirstie Alley as Some Shtik "Geck" ****
edwagreen1 July 2009
Superb film dealing with a family that used the system to take full advantage and do the most horrendous things to people who were under their foster care.
The film is marvelous as it is really a stinging indictment of the foster care system. That social worker saw all the symptoms of child abuse and chose instead to make notations, look at her watch and simply walk away.
Kirstie Alley again proves that she is a magnificent dramatic actress as the devil of a mother. Teaching children how to steal, setting fire to real estate that she owned, having the most disgusting children herself, and married to a brute all come together to make such an outstanding film.
The film is also a testimony to a criminal justice system that finally worked and meted out appropriate justice.
This is a marvelous film which should be viewed by so many groups alike.
The film is marvelous as it is really a stinging indictment of the foster care system. That social worker saw all the symptoms of child abuse and chose instead to make notations, look at her watch and simply walk away.
Kirstie Alley again proves that she is a magnificent dramatic actress as the devil of a mother. Teaching children how to steal, setting fire to real estate that she owned, having the most disgusting children herself, and married to a brute all come together to make such an outstanding film.
The film is also a testimony to a criminal justice system that finally worked and meted out appropriate justice.
This is a marvelous film which should be viewed by so many groups alike.
It was compelling and well done.
jim_strzalkowski16 March 2004
Honestly, this movie was extraordinary. Kirstie Alley really proved herself once again as a great actress. I was blown away at this made for TV movie. Usually this genre is week on script, but I could not turn it off. If you can get a copy of this film, watch it and you will be amazed at the story and Kirstie's performance.
Kirstie who is much curvier now, is brilliant in this dramatization of a true story. It is a horrific tale and was very well done.
Normally I do not care to write comments on films, but I was so moved to do so on this one. The film and Kirstie should receive an Emmy and SAG Award for this work.
Kirstie who is much curvier now, is brilliant in this dramatization of a true story. It is a horrific tale and was very well done.
Normally I do not care to write comments on films, but I was so moved to do so on this one. The film and Kirstie should receive an Emmy and SAG Award for this work.
My experience with Ray Burt (son)
pattree4825 October 2007
Hi..I am from Rhode Island and watched the movie. I vaguely remember hearing about this when it was discovered.
BUT what surprised me the most was....in 2001 I hired a contractor to build an addition for me. He seemed like a nice enough guy and price was reasonable, (I called 7 companies and only got 3 prices..seemed like no one wanted to work).
I had no idea who Raymond Burt was....well I found out at the end of the movie when I saw him and his family on the clips of them in the court room. What a shock that was.
It was hard to imagine what the hell his life must have been like with a mother like his. He was pleasant and friendly and I would never have guessed what his family life was like. I can only hope he did what he did because his mother made him and not because he truly wanted to.
The completed job was OK...a couple of things were not to my liking but that was subcontractors faults and Ray made up for them.
Don't know where he is now or if still in business..but I hope he's not with his mother.....she is one scary BITCH!!!!!!
BUT what surprised me the most was....in 2001 I hired a contractor to build an addition for me. He seemed like a nice enough guy and price was reasonable, (I called 7 companies and only got 3 prices..seemed like no one wanted to work).
I had no idea who Raymond Burt was....well I found out at the end of the movie when I saw him and his family on the clips of them in the court room. What a shock that was.
It was hard to imagine what the hell his life must have been like with a mother like his. He was pleasant and friendly and I would never have guessed what his family life was like. I can only hope he did what he did because his mother made him and not because he truly wanted to.
The completed job was OK...a couple of things were not to my liking but that was subcontractors faults and Ray made up for them.
Don't know where he is now or if still in business..but I hope he's not with his mother.....she is one scary BITCH!!!!!!
So close to life
kjtm-227 June 2009
I liked this comment as it appreciated the fact it was well acted and true to life. To many people this would have seemed a far fetched tale but I experienced a horrific tale of this nature, adult mental brutality and conned by my own son with the advice and backing of a "Mrs Geck". My daughter and I watched it at the same time, I phone her and said have a look and tell me what you think, she immediately said "Bitch Anne" and it was so true to her character that when I do actually finish the script which is proving very painful to write, I want Kirsty to play her. My case raised much publicity 3 days at court and all the media, TV, News etc., Kathryn Knight did an excellent feature in the Daily Mail, but originally my own doctor did not believe me....... Kirsty is the person,,,,well acted. Well produced
Walter
pooky5510 September 2005
I have had dealings with the family. It is very important that I locate this movie. I had no idea it existed until after the police left my home yesterday giving me a surprise visit. I began to research to see if I could find where he is or what he was up to.
I then found the name of the movie but I cannot find it. I went to Best buy, walmart superstore, BJ's, Sam's and a few video stores.
ALso I am looking at the dates of the posts and am wondering if anyone knows if the book ids completed and if so what the name of it is? Any help will be appreciated as I believe other things are going to happen. There just may be other charges.
Thanks for any help. Oh and if anyone nows how to locate the screenwriter. I have not been able to find him either.
Thanks for any help anyone can give. I retrieved my post too add more as I read even more posts.
This family did give to the politicians. But they were not glamorous. Let me put it in a different way. They did not dress the part nor look the part of someone with glamor. As I said I have not yet seen the movie. I just lived part of it. Yes she ruled the house. But he ruled the properties with his sons and foster sons. Yes they are scary people. To this day I do not know why the police were afraid of them. Soon the pieces of the puzzle will all fall in. But the fact is that the police were indeed afraid of him. As I sit here typing this, I am beginning to think that they were not afraid but were either hooked up with him or TOLD to stay away. One officer did tell me that. Another told me that no one dared to touch )&_)(&_)*(& Let me remind all of you if it was not portrayed in the movie that one of the Mayors has also served time. Surely not as much as he should have.
I am having visions of how these people may have been portrayed and if they were portrayed was as glamarous people and pillars of the community that is not so. They paid their way through for the crimes they committed. And the ones who had their hands out for the pay offs were no better and many of them have served time during the administration that was in office at the time of their arresst.
pooky
I then found the name of the movie but I cannot find it. I went to Best buy, walmart superstore, BJ's, Sam's and a few video stores.
ALso I am looking at the dates of the posts and am wondering if anyone knows if the book ids completed and if so what the name of it is? Any help will be appreciated as I believe other things are going to happen. There just may be other charges.
Thanks for any help. Oh and if anyone nows how to locate the screenwriter. I have not been able to find him either.
Thanks for any help anyone can give. I retrieved my post too add more as I read even more posts.
This family did give to the politicians. But they were not glamorous. Let me put it in a different way. They did not dress the part nor look the part of someone with glamor. As I said I have not yet seen the movie. I just lived part of it. Yes she ruled the house. But he ruled the properties with his sons and foster sons. Yes they are scary people. To this day I do not know why the police were afraid of them. Soon the pieces of the puzzle will all fall in. But the fact is that the police were indeed afraid of him. As I sit here typing this, I am beginning to think that they were not afraid but were either hooked up with him or TOLD to stay away. One officer did tell me that. Another told me that no one dared to touch )&_)(&_)*(& Let me remind all of you if it was not portrayed in the movie that one of the Mayors has also served time. Surely not as much as he should have.
I am having visions of how these people may have been portrayed and if they were portrayed was as glamarous people and pillars of the community that is not so. They paid their way through for the crimes they committed. And the ones who had their hands out for the pay offs were no better and many of them have served time during the administration that was in office at the time of their arresst.
pooky
Kathleen Wilhoite great as abuse victim, Kirstie Alley made it easier to watch
vchimpanzee18 March 2004
This was such a terrible story. If it hadn't been Kirstie Alley playing this despicably cruel character, I don't think I could have watched it.
Kathleen Wilhoite did such a good job as a girl treated so harshly she apparently couldn't feel pain any more. She seemed almost happy with her life because she didn't know any better. That was just sad.
I'm not sure which would have been worse: that these people were real, or that someone could have been sick enough to make up this story. The latter, unfortunately, was true. I wish it hadn't been. Still an entertaining presentation.
Kathleen Wilhoite did such a good job as a girl treated so harshly she apparently couldn't feel pain any more. She seemed almost happy with her life because she didn't know any better. That was just sad.
I'm not sure which would have been worse: that these people were real, or that someone could have been sick enough to make up this story. The latter, unfortunately, was true. I wish it hadn't been. Still an entertaining presentation.
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