Family Sins
Family Sins
| 07 February 2005 (USA)
Family Sins Trailers

Based on the true story of the Burt family who seemed normal, upstanding members of the community but were actually deeply embedded in crime. The matriarch took in foster children who were subsequently molested and abused by her husband and children and she kept a woman enslaved and imprisoned in the basement for over twenty years until the woman's daughter managed to get to Rhode Island Attorney General David Morwitz and expose the horrors taking place in the Burt household.

Reviews
SunnyHello Nice effects though.
Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
sol **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!
pooky55 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
leopardskin-1 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.
2btchy4u 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.