The Stepford Husbands

Having difficulty with their marriage, an attractive woman by the name of "Jodi Davison" (Donna Mills) is convinced by her friend "Caroline Knox" (Cindy Williams) to pressure her husband "Mick Davison" (Michael Ontkean) to move to the quiet town of Stepford, Connecticut where they can start all over again. Along with that, being a struggling novelist, Mick is having problems collecting his thoughts due to all of the noise where they currently live in New York City and Jodi is hopeful the more peaceful atmosphere of Stepford will help soothe his increasingly irritable mood. However, once they move, Mick finds it difficult to find any male friends because--except for his next-door neighbor "Gordon" (Jeffrey Pillars)--all of the men there seem extremely passive and dull. Then one day, Gordon also changes--and everyone in town now become focused on Mick. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I wasn't expecting too much from this made-for-television movie but, when I noticed that it featured Donna Mills in a leading role, I figured I would give it a chance. Admittedly, most of the scenarios had all been done before in the three previous Stepford films, but even so, I was somewhat surprised at how well the plot developed all the same. I especially liked the performances of the main actors with Louise Fletcher (as "Miriam Benton") and the aforementioned Donna Mills probably standing out the most. That said, although this wasn't a great film by any means, I found it to be worth the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Not as believable or relevant as the first, with wooden acting and a finale that suggests the writer just got bored and did his best to wrap it up quickly so he could go to lunch. The "turnabout is fair play" tactic could have been handled intelligently, but this is not that movie. For die-hard stepford fans only. For others, stick to the original and the "revenge" sequel.

Donna Mills once again proves why she is the ultimate queen of made-for-television camp trash mini-classics. Hot off the heels from her long-running role on "KNOTS LANDING" and a string of generic forgettable garbage "Lifetime Television for Women" movies like "RUNAWAY FATHER", "IN MY DAUGHTER'S NAME" and "MY NAME IS KATE", Mills hams it up in this forgettable low budget re-telling of "THE STEPFORD WIVES" with a new spin on it... that this time, it's the poor husbands who get the "STEPFORD" makeover!

Mills and made-for-television male counter-part Michael Ontkean play husband and wife who move to a lily-white perfect town where Mills is talked into signing her 'too-busy' author husband up for a series of sinister experiments run by none other than Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher(!) in a career-low performance as an evil scientist determined to turn men into perfect mates for their poor put-upon wives!

Being a 'made-for-television' movie, "STEPFORD HUSBANDS" can't afford to delve into a story-line involving "robotic" husbands, thus the cheap explanation that the men can only be changed by administering a drug.

Shirley Feeney-Meaney, uh I mean Ms. Cindy Williams befriends Mills, coaxing her on with the experiments while poor Ontkean slowly morphs into a boring passionless husband of no feelings or personality with a penchant for bad acting!

Camp moments include Louise Fletcher viewing live feeds from security footage as Donna Mills haplessly runs down a hallway and in and out of various rooms like a Bugs Bunny classic searching for her husband while being chased by Fletcher's henchmen, Cindy Williams getting it in the face with a frying pan and Fletcher being "administered" a syringe containing a lethal dose by her backstabbing assistant!

This made-for-television trash is so bad, you'll have no other choice but to enjoy it! Or watch simply for Louise Fletcher's over-the-top performance as a sinister scientist who will stop at nothing to create the perfect man!

My Rating - 1 out of 10

Anything with Donna Mills is worth a few hours. Sure, the story is lame, but then, how many stories in the movies these days are either solid or original? Sometimes we just have to have a light, entertaining movie without any deeper meaning. Look at Mission Impossibles!