Steven, 7 anni: rapito

I first watched this TV movie when I was 9 or 10, and it haunted me for a long time afterwards. Many years later I came across the book, and although this fills in a lot of the gaps that the movie leaves out, the movie does a better job of dramatising the situation without the over emphasis on the goodness of Steven's family, and the evil of his kidnapper that the book gives. It's a shame that all the details could not have been included in the dramatisation, as the full story would have made the story even more tragic, and that bit more realistic. A 5 hour movie would not be that practical though I fear.

The abuse of Steven is left up to the imagination in the TV adaptation, which is tactful to the family of Steven, but does gloss over the point that Steven was severely sexually abused and raped, and that Steven was okay with his friends suffering the same fate when they visited. These little details and many others like them make for a more frightening and even more gripping one than was produced. This is a shame, but understandable for a low budget US TV movie.

Generally, this is well worth a watch, though the book is better factually; but I'd probably give it a miss if you have young children.

I just saw this movie on lifetime and I remember seeing it when it was first on. I was only 9 years old then and I remember being so scared. I thought it was quite ironic that Cary Staynor was "camping in Yosemite" when Steven came home. The same place where earlier this year Cary murdered those women. Yet another chilling twist to the story.

I remember so much of this movie even though I was only 9 at the time, it was that good. For 15 years now all I had to go by was I knew the title was something like "I know my name is Steven" but didn't really go into looking for it. I'm so glad that I just happened to look up Luke Edwards because of another movie he was in or else I wouldn't have come across one of the most unforgettable movies I've seen in my childhood. Hopefully now I'll be able to buy it and add it to my collection. I highly recommend this movie to anyone even if you don't have children and if you do have children, make sure that they see this movie so then they are aware of how dangerous is it to walk alone even if you think the street is safe. It never hurts to have someone with you just in case. The most memorable part of this movie is when Steven paints his name on the garage and when his father is washing the garage door after he gets kidnapped..... well it's a part of the movie that no one should forget. Excellent movie!

I remember watching this movie in the fall of 1989, and 11 years later it still strikes me as one of the most emotional movies I have ever seen.

The movie is in 2 parts, and the 1st part is worth watching over and over again. The 2nd part loses its' dramatic flair and seems to drag on for eternity.

I would have to say the most poignant part in the movie is when she goes into the bedroom of her 7 year old son (which is now missing), and smells his pajamas and starts weeping. They then take you to Steven Stayner himself, and all you could hear is cries in the dark as he's telling his abductor to "stop it".

This is a definite tear-jerker.

I first saw this movie around 1994. At the time, my sons were ages 6,5, and 3. It was a holiday and my husband took all three boys out of town to visit his mother. So all alone I pulled up a chair in front of the television and became completely engrossed in this movie. I sat there in my chair and absolutely cried so much my face was swolen afterwards.It is now 2002 and I have seen that movie at least 9 times. Throughout the years, I have taught all three of my boys to never to go with strangers, they know their address, and phone number. A few years after this movie, I was reminding my oldest son about what to do if a stranger approached. He angrily said " I know ! I know !" Because I had told him repeatedly what to do after watching that movie. So I grabbed his shoulders and replied " GOOD, then you will know what to do if it happens to you!" I truly felt that if I ever would meet Kenneth Parnell that I would want to kill him. I want to assure you that I would never do anything like that, but the anger that I felt towards him was justified at the time. How can this kind of thing happen? It is now 2002 and Steven Stayner is still in my thoughts. I think every parent should see this movie and cry their hearts out and feel the pain that Dell and his wife went through. I know not to give away the ending of the movie, but I want to say that I was relieved when I heard what happened to Steven. I knew then that he would never have to suffer any longer. In closing, I want to say, peace to you Steven,your wife, children and family. I also want to say that the casting of the movie was perfect. LOVE MELZ