The Stepfather
Directed by Joseph Ruben. Written by Donald Westlake, Brian Garfield and Carolyn Lefcourt
Inspired by watching some old school Monstervision episodes on Youtube, my daughter said to me that we needed to watch The Stepfather. My thoughts exactly. Why the hell not?!!
Sometimes that is all it takes. I have only seen the remake of The Stepfather from 2009 which was awful and the sequel from director Jeff Burr which was more of the same. I thought it was more than time to watch the original. I have to say this is a very 80s movie when you watch it now. It is trying to evoke that smalltown 50s suburbia appearance which makes sense since the Stepfather of the title is looking to create that picturesque familial unit. The kind of perfection only seen on Leave It to Beaver.
In reality we know this is a fantasy. Human beings and human relationships simply do not work in this fashion. Once the fantasy starts to crack, that is when things get deadly. Jerry Blake wants everything to be in place. It just has to be to maintain the facade that his fragile psyche is holding onto.
The movie starts by showing you what kind of monster he really is. It shows the aftermath and by doing this every interaction he has with his family and others, it gives you that feeling of dread. Normally this sort of obvious display right there in the beginning would negatively shadow the proceedings. Not with The Stepfather.
I think a lot of that has to do with the superb performance that Terry O'Quinn gives. He has that fractured personality down pat and he has that effortlessly charming persona as well. He nails it. This movie would not work with anyone else in that role.
This is without a doubt worth a watch. It is a classic in this genre. Forget the remake and it's unnecessary PG-13 bullstuff. Forget even about the sequels. The original is the one worth seeing. I give this movie a B.
Inspired by watching some old school Monstervision episodes on Youtube, my daughter said to me that we needed to watch The Stepfather. My thoughts exactly. Why the hell not?!!
Sometimes that is all it takes. I have only seen the remake of The Stepfather from 2009 which was awful and the sequel from director Jeff Burr which was more of the same. I thought it was more than time to watch the original. I have to say this is a very 80s movie when you watch it now. It is trying to evoke that smalltown 50s suburbia appearance which makes sense since the Stepfather of the title is looking to create that picturesque familial unit. The kind of perfection only seen on Leave It to Beaver.
In reality we know this is a fantasy. Human beings and human relationships simply do not work in this fashion. Once the fantasy starts to crack, that is when things get deadly. Jerry Blake wants everything to be in place. It just has to be to maintain the facade that his fragile psyche is holding onto.
The movie starts by showing you what kind of monster he really is. It shows the aftermath and by doing this every interaction he has with his family and others, it gives you that feeling of dread. Normally this sort of obvious display right there in the beginning would negatively shadow the proceedings. Not with The Stepfather.
I think a lot of that has to do with the superb performance that Terry O'Quinn gives. He has that fractured personality down pat and he has that effortlessly charming persona as well. He nails it. This movie would not work with anyone else in that role.
This is without a doubt worth a watch. It is a classic in this genre. Forget the remake and it's unnecessary PG-13 bullstuff. Forget even about the sequels. The original is the one worth seeing. I give this movie a B.