When released in 1987, the original Stepfather was a rare horror/thriller film in that time to get critical praise. Its realistic setting, satirical commentary, and magnetic lead performance by Terry O’Quinn has become a treasured cult classic. It was ripe material to be remade, and in 2009 The Stepfather received the remake treatment step by step, with the “PG-13” version in the theater, only for the Unrated (which means more violence and swearing) version to appear on Blu Ray.
If you’ve seen the original, and chances are if you’re reading this review, you have, then the remake offers very little that’s new. Grady Edwards (Dylan Walsh) is a serial killer who marries into a family, gets to know them, and then brutally murders them. After murdering a family one Christmas morning, he chooses his next target, the recently divorced Susan (Sela Ward). After a courtship of six months using the name David Harris, Susan’s son Michael (Penn Badgely) returns from military school with his girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard, the hot roommate in Zombieland) and meets David. At first things appear to be fine and David appears to be very nice, but soon Michael begins to suspect something is wrong with his new stepfather and very slowly he begins to discover the truth.
Many would say that the main reason the original Stepfather worked so well was because of the performance from Terry O’Quinn, who went on to have a great career, and surprisingly Dylan Walsh does fit well into the role here. He’s more appealing physically so it’s easy to see how women can fall for him and it is that side that works. His psychopathic side is a little unconvincing and the script calls for him to do things that sends off red flags for the rest of the cast very easily. He also kills in a bloodless matter that warrants the PG-13 rating. The rest of the cast give by the numbers performances, with Paige Turco a standout as Susan’s sarcastic friend who has her own doubts about David as well and Jon Tenney as Susan’s ex-husband. Sela Ward isn’t given much to do, Penn Badgely is a bland lead, and Amber Heard is much better in Zombieland.
The script by J.S. Cardone (who also executive produced), which heavily contains elements from Donald E Westlake’s original screenplay, is very convoluted and goes for the cheap scare and obvious all too often. By changing the protagonist from female to male and by having Michael quickly show signs of distrust to his new stepfather reverts the film to formulaic proportions. It should be no surprise that the one thing to describe this film is by the numbers because Cardone, director Nelson McCormick, and Sony Pictures also were responsible for the Prom Night remake. I don’t know what was added to make the film “unrated” but it felt like nothing changed as there’s no swearing and most of the violence is bloodless.
The Blu Ray does look nice at 1080p and the production value is very slick, especially in the film’s opening sequence, which is extremely well done and the only scene that delivers the chills. There is a commentary with director Nelson McCormick and stars Dylan Walsh and Penn Badgely as well as two behind the scenes featurettes, the first one is on the making of the film entitled “Open House.” At 20 minutes, it does give an insight into the making of the film and the most surprising element was producer Greg Moordian admitting he had never seen the original Stepfather until recently and after he had seen it he wanted to remake it. The good thing that the featurette shows is that Walsh was very into the role and wanted to deliver. “Visualizing The Stunts” is a ten minute piece that focuses mainly on the stunts in the final sequence but shows how the actors did their own stunts in some sequences. Finally there’s a five minute gag reel which is mainly the cast dropping things or tripping on the floor. To their credit, Walsh and Paige Turco no matter what stay in character. It’s odd to show a gag reel for a thriller like this but it is fun.
Overall, The new Stepfather is another in the line of remakes that offer nothing new that the original didn’t say. It has some moments but had this film been done by an independent company, like the original was, it would’ve been bold enough to go into some new and fresh directions to build onto. However, despite a charismatic lead from Dylan Walsh and extended shots of Amber Heard in a bikini, The Stepfather offers nothing to the horror crowd but will be more successful for older audiences.
– Alan G. Richter
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- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
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