Villainess Review: Amanda Dillon (Killer Cheer Mom)

Fear the Cheer 2021 is underway, and it started with this film, Killer Cheer Mom! The reason why I was excited for this is because of Denise Richards, who is immensely well known for movies such as Wild Things and Scary Movie 3, as well as her TV appearances on Spin City, Two and a Half Men, and her current role as Shauna Fulton on The Bold and the Beautiful. This wasn't Richards' first time participating in a Lifetime cheerleading movie; she appeared in The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders, as Candice King, the mother of the film's main protagonist. However, in this film, Richards underwent a heel turn, as she played main villainess Amanda Dillon.

Amanda Dillon was the stepmother of main protagonist Riley Dillon, having married widowed James Dillon prior to the film's events. The film introduces Amanda as a caring stepmother to Riley, who isn't happy with the move from Chicago to a smaller town, though she had ambitions of joining her school's cheerleading squad. After overhearing Riley vent to her father about wanting to return to Chicago, Amanda decided to do anything and everything to make sure Riley ended up on the cheerleading squad, and her methods were definitely immoral.

Amanda's first attempted target was Dee, whose medical records were subjected to tampering by the scheming stepmother. However, that failed, so Amanda resorted to planting drugs in a backpack belonging to another cheerleader, Ariel, and later used her video editing skills to set up Ariel and Tiana as underage drinkers, leading to the squad's coach, Toni, permanently ejecting them from the squad, leaving two spots wide open. Riley was left stunned over the developments and spoke to Amanda about Ariel's belief that she had been set up, leading Amanda to reveal that she had a past lover, Tim, who tragically committed suicide, using her past as a cautionary tale that people aren't always who they seem.

Riley later brought Chloe, the squad's captain, to the house, with Amanda greeting Chloe afterwards before eavesdropping on their conversation. Chloe left that evening in her car, but all of a sudden, her brakes weren't working, and she ended up crashing. Chloe was hospitalized, and an encounter with Detective Sanchez revealed that the brakes in Chloe's car were tampered with. Riley ended up suspected of attempting to eliminate Chloe, and she ended up blamed for the mishaps that befell Chloe, Ariel, and Tiana; all the while, Amanda's only concern was about Riley's tryouts.

Riley began suspecting that Amanda was behind the mishaps, and her suspicions increased after an online search for Amanda's lover, Tim, gave details about his death, as well as his remaining family. Riley and her boyfriend, Cooper, drove to Chicago and visited Tim's widow, Sarah Anders, and presented a photo of Amanda, with Sarah revealing that Amanda's real name was Mallory Rivers, and that Mallory was Tim's mistress and co-worker. Tim attempted to end the affair after Sarah gave him an ultimatum, only for Mallory to become obsessed with Tim and start stalking him. Seeing Sarah as the one obstacle in her happiness, Mallory attempted to kill Sarah by tampering with her car, but Sarah revealed that she and Tim had switched cars for work purposes, and as a result, Tim ended up killed.

Riley's attempt to warn James fell on deaf ears, and after learning about Riley's suspicions from James, Amanda appeared in Riley's room and ominously warned her about attempting to ruin her chances of having a family of her own, while referring to her stepdaughter as "ungrateful" and even demanding an apology from Riley. Afterwards, Riley informed Blair and Cooper about the confrontation, leading to Riley and Cooper tracking Amanda's whereabouts from her SUV, which led them to the office of Amanda/Mallory's therapist, Dr. Schaffer. The pair found out that the villainess stole a prescription note from Schaffer's office to get the drugs she planted on Ariel, but just as they were leaving, Amanda knocked out Cooper and abducted Riley.

Riley ended up tied to a chair inside an abandoned shack by Amanda, who was set on burning down the shack and killing her stepdaughter. Amanda ignored Riley's pleas for mercy, and blamed her for looking into her past while also saying that if Riley had been a better cheerleader, Amanda's actions would have been prevented. As Riley pinpointed, the only reason why Amanda wanted her to make the squad so badly was to avoid returning to Chicago and facing a murder charge, while Amanda only stated that she would comfort James after Riley's death, and even start a family of her own. Just as she was about to start the fire, Amanda was tackled by Riley, leading to a brawl that ended with James' appearance. Amanda's escape was halted by Detective Sanchez, who ordered Amanda out of the car, sealing her fate.

Killer Cheer Mom was a great start to Fear the Cheer 2021, and the main reason was Denise Richards as Amanda Dillon/Mallory Rivers. To no surprise, Richards portrayed Amanda's insanity and outright villainy to perfection, and regarding Amanda/Mallory herself, she was quite a maniacal villainess. The scene where she looks down at Riley and berates her is, IMO, Richards' best scene, as it shows us that the gloves are off and Amanda's evil personality finally comes out directly towards Riley. I knew that if Denise Richards took the spotlight as a Lifetime film villainess, she would absolutely shine, and I was right. She definitely didn't disappoint this fan of villainesses!

One more thing. After re-watching the latter half of this film, I think that Amanda should have a sequel. The reason is this: Amanda reminded me so much of the classic Stepfather films that came out in the late 80s/early 90s, and I can honestly see Amanda pop up in another film, inserting herself into another family under another name, and starting her psychotic cycle again. I truly think Lifetime can do this; we got five Albert Beck films. Certainly they can do the same with a female villain, especially one as amazing as Amanda; played by a household name like Denise Richards.

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Click here for Amanda Dillon's profile on Villainous Beauties Wiki!