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| The Stepfather - No more mister nice dad. |
Buy The Stepfather on Amazon
Written by: Carolyn Lefcourt & Brian Garfield and Donald E. Westlake (story), Donald E. Westlake (screenplay)
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
Starring: Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack
Rated: R
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!
Plot:
Stefanie's step dad has a murderous past, and she may be the only one that realizes it.
Verdict:
This is a fairly solid thriller/slasher. O'Quinn is one of the few things that stands out. While the measured pacing isn't bad, it will feel slow compared to current movies. This does exactly what you expect.
Skip it.
Review:
This is definitely cheesy eighties horror. In the first five minutes we're shown a naked man covered in blood, dead children, and the gruesome aftermath of a murder scene.
One year later this man has a new family and calls himself Jerry. After seeing the introduction, you're just waiting for Jerry to flip out though for the most part he acts pretty normal if not a bit overbearing. Jerry has a major hang up on achieving the perfectly family, but we never know why.
You can tell this is an older movie, aside from film grain, in that it actually has a first act. This shows you just how much movies have changed in thirty years, as now movies jump off in the first act. This is much more reserved and lets the tension build by providing brief glimpses of the real Jerry.
The major issue is that we're never given a good reason for this. This is a slasher just for the sake of it. There a side story of someone trying to track Jerry, but that story line goes absolutely nowhere. I can't figure out what it was even included.
This feels like it follows an eighties formula. It coasts on the first scene and ends exactly how you assume it will.
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