When I first saw this movie a few years ago, I thought the same thing about Cheryl. Here was a very beautiful, vivacious, and extremely intelligent woman who not only loved life, but also loved her children more then anything, and would have given her own life to protect them...which in the end, she ultimately did.
The murder scene has always disturbed me--I've seen this movie a few different times, and at first I, too, wondered why on earth she didn't call the police to go with her to get her children on that fateful night, or at least bring a loaded gun with her! But then I also bought and read the book, and the book actually goes a lot deeper then the movie(which novels usually tend to do). There was a part in the novel where Cheryl was saying how much she disliked guns and weapons. They frightened her, so carrying them was not a part of who she was...and I think at this point, getting her kids out of harm's way was far more important then trying to save her own life. Cheryl died trying to save her boys. She is definitely a hero in my eyes, and nothing less.
As far as getting the police involved, the way that Brad Cunningham was, he basically manipulated pretty much everyone he knew...remember the scene when Cheryl had her van stolen? She called the cops and filed a report, but then her husband miraculously appears, with her van, and manages to make her look like a complete lunatic in front of the authorities. One of them had sarcastically muttered to his partner: "Gotta love these domestic disputes, don't ya?"...and then they both left the scene. Now I don't know whether or not this incident actually takes place in real life or not; I'm aware that in movies, certain events may be fabricated or altered for various reasons. But it doesn't even matter--I also observed from reading the book that the police didn't do much to help Cheryl before she was killed. Which is BULL CRAP, because if they were able to get more involved, maybe she'd be here today. But it doesn't help matters any that her psychotic ex-husband was able to convince everyone that he was a complete angel, and that his wife was an alcoholic, irresponsible slut, which COULDN'T have been further from the truth. So yes, Cheryl could have asked for a police escort that night, but even then, Brad would have found some other way to take her life; if not that night, then another. He was, and still is, a very bad man. He was born programmed wrong, I absolutely believe that to this day.
~We love you, Cheryl! Rest In Peace.~
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deemcn-1
17 years ago
Can you tell me if there is a scene in Dead by Sunset where Brad makes the kids lay down and pours ketchup on them in order to scare their mom into thinking they were dead?
I read the book, but it was not in it, but was possibly in the film.
If not in Dead by Sunset, do you know what TV movie that scene was in? I would appreciate your help in locating the movie this scene was in.
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Elainethegreat25
17 years ago
Yes, there was a scene in Dead By Sunset where Brad makes the children lie down and puts ketchup on them to make Cheryl think that they were dead. This scene occured about halfway through the movie(or somewhere around there; the movie was 4 hours long, so I don't remember exactly when it happened.) I actually have watched the movie a few times now, but I recorded it on video for the first time a few months ago, and had completely forgot about this part. It was completely HORRIFYING!!! I couldn't believe that Brad could be so incredibly twisted...and the messed up part is, he just got worse as the movie progressed.
I hope this helped! Sorry, I have not logged on to this site in quite a while, so I just barely recieved your e-mail. Take care. :)
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