Out of nowhere, No Good Deed managed a surprising $24 million opening weekend in September 2014. That allowed it to become the top film for that period, and it eventually ended up with $52 million, a pretty good return on the movie’s $13 million budget.

I suspect Deed might’ve done even stronger business if it had been an actual good film. Alas, it proves to be the worst kind of lazy nonsense.

Terri Granger (Taraji P. Henson) stays home with two kids while her husband Jeffrey (Henry Simmons) works non-stop. This leaves her more than a little lonely and she feels neglected by her husband.

Into this setting steps Colin Evans (Idris Elba), a convicted murderer who escaped from prison, killed his ex-fiancée Alexis (Kate del Castillo) and headed out on the lam. Colin crashes his escape vehicle and winds up on Terri’s door, where he claims to be a motorist with a problem.

Initially, Terri feels suspicious of Colin, but she eventually takes pity on him and allows him to take shelter from a drenching storm while he allegedly waits for help. This doesn’t go well, as Terri must defend herself and her children from the psychopath.

To attempt a lame witticism, there’s nothing like a good thriller – and Deed is nothing like a good thriller. Instead, it offers a bad thriller – a really, really bad thriller, one that packs every possible cliché into a tedious, tiresome 84-minute package.

In the case of Deed, this becomes a more substantial disappointment than usual because it boasts talent, at least in the acting ranks. Both Henson and Elba have earned multiple plaudits over the years and consistently offer positive performances.

Alas, their skills can’t do anything to redeem the simplistic and brain-dead Deed. While most films of this sort require a certain suspension of disbelief, Deed forces the viewer to self-lobotomize in order to accept its rampant idiocy. Without a logical moment in its repertoire, the movie stretches credulity on a near-constant basis to allow its tale to develop.

For instance, Colin’s escape would be big news, as he seems to be a notorious killer. The film presents Terri as an educated, tuned-in woman – a former criminal lawyer, for God’s sake - and yet she apparently can’t put two and two together to recognize Colin? Even though he uses his real name? This is ridiculous, but the filmmakers don’t want to bother to make sense when they can rely on cheap shtick instead.

Perhaps if Deed actually mustered any form of scares, thrills or drama, I wouldn’t mind the dearth of logic. Unfortunately, the film remains so relentlessly predictable and trite that it becomes a serious bore. Deed telegraphs every possible moment of interest and lets us see what’ll happen from a mile away. Any potential tension goes down the drain without a whimper.

At least Henson and Elba give it their best, as both work much harder to sell Deed than the material deserves. They can’t redeem it, of course, but at least they add a smidgen of interest to the tale.

Without those actors, No Good Deed becomes bad TV movie fare – and even with Henson and Elba, it barely rises above that level. Look hard and you’ll still find it tough to locate much redeeming value in this stale thriller.

No Good Deed appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. I found an attractive transfer here.

Sharpness seemed fine. If any instances of softness materialized, I didn't see them, as I viewed a tight, distinctive image. No issues with jaggies or moiré effects occurred, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Print flaws failed to mar the presentation.

In terms of colors, Deed went with a teal feel. This was semi-expected from a modern thriller; it’s unoriginal but typical of the genre circa 2014. The hues worked fine within those limitations. Blacks seemed deep enough, and shadows showed good smoothness. I felt totally pleased by this excellent image.

While not as good, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack fit the material. It used all the channels to give us music, and appropriate effects cropped up around the spectrum in a convincing manner. Those elements meshed together in a concise way and helped give us a vivid sense of places and events. Much of the audio focused on the nearly omnipresent thunderstorm, but the movie’s various “boo moments” also allowed jolts.

Audio quality satisfied. Music was bright and bold, while speech came across as natural and distinctive. Effects seemed accurate and dynamic, with clean highs and deep lows. The track worked fine for the material.

Three featurettes fill out the disc. Making a Thriller runs 12 minutes, 20 seconds and delivers notes from producer Will Packer, director Sam Miller, executive producer Glenn S. Gainor and actors Idris Elba andTaraji P. Henson. “Thriller” looks at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, and Miller’s impact on the production. Despite a few minor tidbits, this piece mostly delivers fluffy promotional fodder.

In the six-minute, 10-second The Thrill of a Good Fight, we hear from Henson, Packer, Elba, Miller, and Gainor. We learn more about performances, with an emphasis on the stunts that used Elba and Henson. Once again, “Fight” gives us a couple of thoughts but focuses more on happy talk.

Finally, Good Samaritan lasts four minutes, 28 seconds and offers info from Packer, Gainor, Henson, Elba and writer Aimee Lagos. We get a few more character tidbits, none of which tell us anything of interest.

The disc opens with ads for The Equalizer (2014), When the Game Stands Tall, Predestination, The Remaining and Whiplash. No trailer for Deed shows up here.

With just a little creativity and ingenuity, No Good Deed could’ve turned into a decent thriller. Unfortunately, the movie leaves no cliché untouched and it fails to ever threaten to become anything more than trite and tiresome. The Blu-ray presents excellent visuals, good audio and a handful of dull featurettes. You can do much better than this weak effort.