Tuesday, June 19, 2018

The Stepfather


Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Joseph Ruben

Starring: Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Charles Layner, Stephen Shellen

From: ITC

Watching this on Father's Day... a natural move, and a good one to boot: 

I was not the first person to bring up this idea, but watching The Stepfather on Father's Day seemed all too appropriate, so it being for free on Amazon Prime was even more motivation to check this out. While there are some silly moments, I can say this is pretty good overall. 

The cast as a whole is fine and 80's babe Jill Schoelen is good, but Terry O'Quinn as the eponymous stepfather is great. The idea that a guy who looks like a normal adult male is actually a sociopath, and he had some sort of weird childhood only hinted at which caused him to develop a warped, antiquated (even in the 1980's) idea of a perfect family and if the widow and kid(s) don't measure up to those ideals, he slaughters them... but he is smart so he plans for a few weeks to start a new life before the murders... that is pretty terrifying and O'Quinn was perfect for the role. He could be charming, terrifying, or switch between the two at the drop of a hat; just one look from him could be chilling if he was full of menace and rage. As the movie is framed around him and the focus is not as much on his step-daughter trying to figure out the truth about him, it was a stroke of luck in picking him for the role.

There are some fun setpieces and the movie is more on the psychological side rather than seeing graphic kills, or a plethora of kills. It is still enjoyable seeing when and how the lead will crack, and how the family deals with such a psycho. The 80's moments (the soundtrack and some of the clothing) personally delighted me and I will be a judgmental SOB here & presume the remake is as pointless and lame as its reputation says it is. For certain, I can say this was a good thing to watch on Father's Day; it should remind most people that at least their dads are not like Jerry Blake.

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