The Stepfather

Genre : DVD ( DVD )
Release : 2010/02/09
Price : $19.99

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The Stepfather is one of those movies that telegraphs its ending almost as soon as it starts; so, since we already know the destination, the only question involves whether or not we'll enjoy the journey. When we meet the guy who calls himself David Harris (Dylan Walsh, Dr. Sean McNamara in the Nip/Tuck TV series) during the opening credits, he's stepping over the bodies of the wife and kids he's just murdered, out the door and on his way to a new life. Sure enough, he's soon flirting with attractive divorcée Susan Harding (Sela Ward), and six months later they're engaged and living together with her three children, including prodigal son Michael (Penn Badgley), who has just returned from some kind of military reform school. It doesn't take long for Michael to begin suspecting that his stepfather-to-be is not all that he seems; Susan's sister, Jackie (Paige Turco), who hires David as a real estate agent, has her suspicions too, as does a cat-loving old neighbor. Only Susan remains clueless; then again, one of the many shortcomings of the movie, which was directed Nelson McCormick and written by J.S. Cardone, is its failure to adequately explain why she fell for this creep in the first place (we're often told how charming he is, but said charms are little in evidence). All that remains is to see how the tale will play itself out, and while McCormick supplies a few scary moments, he leaves no cliché unexplored (including Charlie Clouser's ominous, obvious music) on the way to the expected violent climax. In the end, one can only wonder why someone thought remaking The Stepfather was a good idea; the 1987 original offered both a much better explanation for the killer's motives and a significantly more compelling performance by Terry O'Quinn in the lead role. --Sam Graham


Stills from The Stepfather (Click for larger image)

I watched the original stepfather years ago and enjoyed it very much and of course when I heard that they where doing a remake I was mildly hesitant but still curious and I decided to keep an open mind and watch it, I thought maybe the film would be surprisingly good, boy was I (wrong) this remake just didnt have the same magic as the original 1987 version, I hate to put a damper on this new version but sorry they shouldn't have done this one the actors were ok I guess but Terry O Quinn did this role way better, the mood of the recent version just didnt hold my attention enough I'm sorry but this remake was a real snoozer and the original still holds up in my book.

If you want to see the The Stepfather and you haven't seen either film yet go with the 1987 version for sure, because the newbie version is lame with a capital L sorry lol.

The only people who will like this movie are idiots with simple minds. I don't even want to waste much time reviewing. Characters in the film do stupid things and act stupid because the script is stupid. The wife is portrayed as a clueless idiot who throws all common sense out the window after meeting the psycho stepfather. I could go on and on, but not worth the time. Bottom line: Movie sucks, ignore it and watch another.

Horror remakes never live up the original and The Stepfather is no different. Dylan Walsh takes over for Terry O' Quinn and does a decent job. Although his acting is like anything you'd see on a Lifetime Movie or cable drama series, which I know he comes from. The story is the same, and it does a decent job. I think the movie dragged on a bit but it wasn't the worst remake out there. Enjoyable if have an open mind and watch it for entertainment.

I will not compare this movie to the original because I rarely think that helps. What I will say is this, this could easily be a movie of the week. Yes it's that predictable and just plain ridiculous.
Dylan Walsh plays a serial killer who preys on single mom's and their families. He wants to always have a perfect family and eventually something or someone will get in the way of that, be it a suspicious ex, a nosey neighbor , or some other drivel like that. Now Sela Ward (what happened to this womans face?! I always considered her a natural beauty, well too bad) is the single mom that seems to not have cable so she has never watched a Lifetime movie. After what I can only suppose is a short courtship he moves in with her and her two kids, a third child that was in reform school but looks 22 comes home for summer break and starts to get suspicious of Daddy Dearest. And what does a 17 y/o do if he gets suspicious of his mom's new boyfriend now in the 21st century? Internet? Why no of course not, if he did the movie would last 15 minutes. No the guy is super suspicious, he even creeps him out and this 17 y/o doesn't even Google the guy. Then I thought "well maybe it's because they have only one computer in the house and he doesn't have a smartphone" but no, the guy has a laptop on his desk in his room.
Yes folks that's how dumb this movie is, because as Hitchcock said when you do a suspense film and for instance the guy can't go to the police you have to establish early on why he can't go to the police, or else the audience is like "Well why doesn't he just go to the police?". Here if they would have at least given a reason as to why no one goes to the net and gives a search for this guy it would have played off better, the ex eventually does it but lets face it too little too late.
I wouldn't buy this movie if I were you.

Being a fan of "Nip/Tuck" and wondering how Dylan Walsh would portray "The Stepfather" character, I had a tad more curiosity to see this remake than most of the other half-baked ones that Hollywood keeps churning out. Sad to say, I wish that I would've just assumed that this one was going to be mediocre, and not have wasted my time watching it. The obvious clue is that this one is PG-13, and the original was R, so you know that certain aspects are going to be toned down. Sure, there are plenty worse ones out there, but it annoys me when they remake movies and don't even try to improve upon the original. Even more annoying is that Walsh basically plays the character similarly to Sean MacNamara having a bad day (his "Nip/Tuck role). Aside from changing the sex of the oldest kid in the family that serves as the main doubter of the newcomer's intentions and past, and having the Stepfather focus on one family at a time instead of juggling two, it is pretty much the same movie as the original. So unless you have no idea about the 1987 version that starred Lost's Terry O'Quinn, I have virtually little reason to recommend this one. Seek out that one instead.....you'll have a much better time, and O'Quinn's portrayal of the main character far surpasses Walsh's. And let's put it this way.....when the best thing about your remake is that you get to see Amber Heard in a bikini for 1/4 of the running time (not a bad thing), then you know that you can spend your time watching a better movie.