Paul and Kathy Plunk buy a small motel in a lonesome mountain region in Oregon. Their newfound tranquility is broken by a pair of guests who turn out to be wanted criminals on run from the police. They need money, so they assault the Plunks, force them to withdraw all their money from the bank. But the nightmare just begins as they take the Plunks and their baby with them as hostages.
Acting
Chad Lowe's unhinged desperation vs. Stamos's ice-cold menace.
Direction
Tuchner milks every cheap motel hallway for maximum dread.
Director
Michael Tuchner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on USA Network in 1991, peak era for 'based on a true story' TV movies that took massive liberties. The actual case involved a single kidnapper, not Stamos-Lowe double trouble.
Joanna Kerns was simultaneously starring in Growing Pains, making this her dark double life—America's sitcom mom by day, trauma hostage by night.
US
