pullomeri-1

The Stepfather is one of the most ingenious and original thrillers i have seen in years, and one of the few films that echoes Hitchcock without robbing his grave.(More exclamations: a sleeper, an underrated surprise that's a knockout from start to finish.)Terru O'Quinn starts as a nice guy who happens to slaughter his loved ones whenever his ideal family fails to live up to Father Knows Best rerun. Then he resettles with another household, figuring practice makes perfect. He's a serial killer, a domesticated Norman Bates, and what's most frightening is that you like this guy. O'Quinn turns in a riveting performance, and you pray that he doesn't crack, and you want his candy-coated dreams to come true. When he snaps, watch out. His acts of violence make you wince in pain and shock from their suddenness. Director Joseph Ruben and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake underscore the tense mood with a perfect measure of twisted black humour. Unlike Hitchcock copycat Brian De Palma. Ruben's cinematic references to Hitch's Shadow of a Doubt, Suspicion, Psycho and even The Birds add to the fun without calling attention to themselves and stopping the film dead. This clever thinking man's slasher film wont disappoint. Whew!