Christine Hellman aka Rebecca Delaney (Marcy Walker) was the main villainess of the 1995 TV film Terror in the Shadows.
History[]
Little was revealed of Christine's past, outside of the fact that she was a mentally unstable woman who, five years prior to the movie's events, had her infant son Timmy taken from her after she was determined unfit to have children. The baby was placed with high school teacher Alex Williams and his wife, Laura. Christine delusionally believed that Alex had kidnapped her son and vowed to get him back.
One night, Christine was able to locate the Williams and confronted Laura while Alex was out at a basketball game, attacking her with a knife. Their fight led to Laura falling from the top of the stairs with Timmy in her arms, killing both of them. Christine was later found in a car, cradling her dead son's body and refusing to believe he was dead. She was found unfit to stand trial and sent to a psychiatric institution.
Events[]
The movie began with Christine escaping from the mental hospital, bludgeoning an orderly to death to do so. Having been collecting newspaper articles about Alex, Christine determined to locate Alex and take back the baby she believed he owed her. To get into town, Christine hitched a ride from Rebecca Delaney and told her about how she was reuniting with her son before bludgeoning her to death with a rock after having her pull over. When Christine got into town, she located both the high school Alex was teaching at and the bakery his new wife Sarah owned, which allowed her to follow her home and begin taking secret residence in their basement. The evil Christine soon after became convinced that Sarah's son, Brian, was Timmy and began plotting to take him back.
Using Rebecca's identity, Christine applied for a job at Sarah's bakery, allowing her the chance to bond with both her and Brian. She also began to steal things from the house, including a framed photo of Brian. One day, while taking Brian home from school for Sarah, Christine told him that she had a "surprise" planned for Alex and that he had to keep it a secret. Later that night, Alex and Sarah went out to dinner to celebrate the (false) news that Christine was dead--the police having mistaken her body for one that was discovered in a lake. The two left Brian with babysitter Carolyn and, when Christine heard that the two were watching a horror movie, she angrily disapproved and shut off the power before going upstairs to take out the VHS tape. This alarmed Carolyn and caused Brian to call the police, but Christine was able to avoid being found, tearing up the tape later on.
When Kay grew suspicious of "Rebecca", she searched through her purse and discovered a newspaper article about Alex's transfer to a new high school and also learned that the phone number she provided was for a payphone. When Christine returned and caught Kay, the evil Christine disconnected the phone and told Kay that she was back to get revenge for her suffering before attacking and killing her to keep her quiet, emptying the register to make it appear to be a robbery gone bad.
In the film's climax, Christine took Brian out for milkshakes to allow the traumatized Sarah time to rest, drugging his drink with a substance that made him pass out. Hours later, after Alex learned that Christine was still alive, she called Sarah at the house and claimed her car broke down and that she and Brian were at a service station. When Alex went to get Brian, Christine hit Alex in the head before driving back to the Williams house, where Sarah was just discovering Christine's hidden bedroom in the basement. As she ran out, she ran into Christine, realizing who she really was and learning that she planned to claim Brian as her own son. After having a psychotic rant, Christine chased Sarah with a knife, nearly catching her before she was able to escape the basement. But when Brian awoke and entered the basement through the window, Christine grabbed him and took him into her room, ignoring his pleads to let him go. Sarah was able to rescue Brian and escape the house, but Christine attacked her outside the house in another attempt on her life. But at that moment, Alex drove up to the house, giving Sarah the chance to throw Christine into the vehicle's path, killing her.
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