Varun Patel
‘Posioned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ is a Lifetime movie that steps away from the usual candy-coated premise of Valentine’s Day-themed films. Lifetime and Hallmark are two channels that seasonally delight viewers with holiday-themed movies around the time of major festivals.
While Hallmark is kicking off its sleuth of Valentine films with a conventional rom-com, Lifetime will be spicing things up. ‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ is about murders, and not love. To be more precise, it is about speculated murders which are thought to be crimes of passion. Hence, the Lifetime film is thematically well-placed with the Valentine’s Day mood of passionate romance and also quite far away from its sunny, slice-of-life atmosphere.
Well, to be fair, ‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor’ is not officially a part of the network’s Valentine themed movies. It is a part of Lifetime’s ‘Ripped From the Headlines’ slate of television movies. These movies intrigue viewers with riveting stories based on true events. Although not meant to be Valentine’s themed, the festival’s appeal would have surely been a factor of consideration for the movie’s premise.
Is Poisoned Love Based on a True Story?
‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ is based on the true story of Stacey “The Black Widow” Castor. The Weedsport woman had to suffer the brunt of losing her husband but was able to find love once again when she started seeing her boss, David. However, things got extremely complicated for Castor when David was found to be dead by what was assumed to be suicide. However, the police soon suspected something sinister when Castor’s fingerprints were found on the glass of anti-freeze that David had reportedly self-administered to commit suicide. Moreover, the death of David and Castor’s first husband share some striking similarities, leading to the suspicion of some foul play.
But that is not all: the body of Stacey’s daughter was later discovered. Apparently, she felt guilty for having murdered both David and Castor’s first husband and tried to commit suicide. Luckily, her life was saved in the nick of time. Naturally, Castor was suspected of being responsible again. Is this a case of an innocent person being troubled by false accusations? Or did Castor actually murder two of her husbands and attempt to kill her own daughter?
Poisoned Love Cast: Who Plays Whom?
Academy Award nominee, Nia Vardalos essays the role of the titular protagonist who gets accused of murdering two of her husbands and daughter. Also a writer, Vardalos is most prominent for having starred in the 2002 film, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’
Mike Dopud plays the character of Stacey’s boss and husband, David. A former footballer, Dopud came to be known for his commanding presence on screen after switching careers. He is known for his recurring appearances on ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Smallville.’
Other than that, Chanelle Peloso essays the role of Stacey’s daughter, Ashley who reportedly attempted to commit suicide. Genea Charpentier plays the role of Bree, Ashley’s sister and Stacey’s other daughter. Eunice Kang, Cameron Grierson and J. Douglas Stewart are also a part of the movie’s cast.
Poisoned Love Filming Location
Many of you might be wondering where ‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ was filmed. The story is mainly set in the state of New York as this is where Stacey Castor lived and where she was eventually tried for attempted murder. However, if you wish to know where the movie might have been actually shot, here’s what we know.
Los Angeles, California
Information regarding the filming locations of ‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ is scarce. There are no confirmed reports about where the movie’s filming took place and hence, we cannot convey that information with utmost assurance. However, we can certainly speculate where the film MIGHT have been shot at based on other Lifetime movies. Most Lifetime movies are either filmed in Canada or Los Angeles.
The decision to film Lifetime movies in Canada is mostly a financial one. The Canadian government provides generous tax credits for producers to film in Canada. Since Canada resembles the United States of America visually, it is not tough to shoot movies set in the USA at Canada.
However, we speculate that ‘Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story’ has been filmed in Los Angeles and not Canada. This is because the movie mostly takes place indoors with interior shots taking up a large chunk of the film. Lifetime movies whose stories take place indoors are generally filmed in L.A. since production costs aren’t too high (since filming can be done inside a makeshift house or a studio) and it is more logistically convenient.
