O Padrasto

I have to give this movie a favorable review only because it delivered something it didn't promise and that took me by surprise. The Stepfather, as I'm sure you all know, is a remake (reboot?) of the 80's slasher series that set the tone for every darn Lifetime movie starring Valerie Bertinelli or Nancy McKeon. A desperate divorcée falls for a mysterious guy who, despite telegraphing to the audience how evil he secretly is, manages to fool his fiancée and her family into thinking that he's a swell guy....that is, until the body count starts. The plot isn't worth discussing. There's nothing here that we haven't seen before. What IS worth discussing is the director's obvious decision to exploit Amber Heard's lovely figure in one long never ending cheesecake sequence. You could make the argument that the ONLY reason this film was even made in the first place was to launch Amber into the stratosphere of blogworthy sex symbols (not unlike what Michael Bay managed to do with Megan Fox). You'll see Amber in her underwear lounging in bed, Amber in her itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikini, gratuitous close-ups of her splendid anatomy, etc. This exploitation becomes so flagrant that it distracts from the story itself, which is probably a good thing. In a way the Stepfather 2009 comes off more like a 70's Drive-In flick; the kind teenagers would flock to in hopes of seeing a little skin. Maybe that was the point after all? I sure hope it was. The movie certainly doesn't deliver much else.

I have a strict policy that states movies featuring either (a) a cat suddenly jumping out from a corner accompanied by an ominous sounding music chord or (b) a mirror that is empty of anyone but one character who turns away, then turns back and suddenly sees the killer in the mirror behind them...well these movies are only going to be so good. This movie has both, within about 60 seconds of each other. In spite of this, I have to say it's really not all that bad. I've seen many people complaining about the lack of originality, but when you're remaking a horror film from the 80's, it's almost inevitable that you're going to give the audience something they've seen before. That wasn't really bothersome to me though because the characters and anticipation overshadowed it for the most part.

Dylan Walsh plays the stepfather in a role that was actually likable for the first part of the film. He meets a single mom played by Sela Ward and all is picture perfect until her bad boy son comes home from military school. We only know he's bad by the way because someone tells us. He's a pretty normal, well adjusted kid considering that his dad is no longer around and his mother has engaged herself to a stranger in the span of 6 months. Far as I could tell, his behavior is still within normal range. It might have made for a more interesting film though if he really was a wild child.

So past that everyone knows what follows with the story. There is not a lot of gratuitous violence; even the killing scenes are low key which I don't really mind. If anyone is looking for lots of gore and clever death shots, this is not the film for them. The excitement is in the buildup, the experience of the characters finding out for themselves who the stepfather really is; especially when you have the one obligatory character, in this case the wayward son, who seems to intuit everything about the man from the first time he sets eyes on him. That standard plot device, a character who has it all figured out and NO ONE will believe him, well it's beyond old but it's moderately effective here.

The mindless and unnecessary adolescent dialogue, together with the many gratuitous bikini shots of the son's pale and too skinny girlfriend, tend to bring the quality of the film down. They were neither necessary nor helpful. But if you can look past that and the lack of originality (is it fair to expect that in this film really?) then you'll find an adequate film that's worth a couple hours of your time. I've seen much worse in the horror/thrillers in the past few years.

6/10

Admittedly, I've never seen the original of this film, however I recognize it and am familiar with it. It's taken me almost fifteen years just to get to this remake.

That being said, I'm judging it on its own merits and not comparing it to the previous work.

Just this film, standing on its own.

So, we have a slick and stylish movie. No worse for the wear over the years.

Dylan Walsh, whom I most closely relate to playing the nerdy-ish son of Paul Newman's character in the excellent, Nobody's Fool 1994), actually does a believable job at the creepy title character.

He's o.c.d. And he's off putting. He's also able to disarm effectively as he should with his intended targets in the film.

Sela Ward incinerates the screen as a newly divorced single mother.

My appreciation for her as an actress could be long lost or newfound but her performance definitely resonates.

Amber Heard, unrecognizable to me at first here in 2023, is simply stunning. No less than breathtaking. Wow. After watching her in this here and now, I am truly rooting for her to reattach to her onward and upward path of excellence in filmmaking.

It's also great to see Jon Tenney playing the ex-husband and Father. I most closely associate him with one of my favorite films of all time, Entropy (1999).

Is this movie scary?

Not really, but it makes me anxious and uncomfortable when people are snooping around where they shouldn't and there's a lot of that gong on in The Stepfather, as you can imagine. So, if that bothers you then you'll be bothered but you won't be scared. Not really.

There are some good jams on the soundtrack: Filter, Seether, Hoobastank, Band of Horses, and Mute Math among others bringing that 2009 rock like you remember it.

The film isn't that memorable but it is short.

Maybe people are expecting more and more from films-its just a movie-its not your life. I thought as something to sit down and watch for a bit it was fair game. I have a technical mind and I always think about how many times they did a certain scene or how many scenes were left on the cutting floor for the finished product. Longer than usual, it was not very bloody which was kind of a relief, and it probably had more in common with the thrillers made in the 1950s, than something out of the modern age. In real life stepfather's can be an unwelcome event, so in that sense this movie taps a vein of something unsettling in the real world. Above average acting helped.

Of all the films to remake The Stepfather (1987) starring the excellent Terry O'Quinn seems like a really peculiar choice.

I personally enjoyed the original and to an extent its two sequels but went into this assuming the worst. I felt like it would miss the point of the original and overly gloss it with Hollywood sparkle.

Well, it's somewhere inbetween. The Stepfather is a bigger budget version of essentially the same tale, but simply not done as well. So it looks all pretty pretty but doesn't have the same impact that Terry O'Quinn provided.

As a thriller this is passable, just try to forget that its a remake and don't compare it to the superior original.

Dylan Walsh is okay in the role and the film also includes a young Amber Heard on the upswing of her career.

Watchable stuff, but it simply didn't need making.

The Good:

Surprisingly excellent soundtrack

Passable performances

The Bad:

The whole thing feels so unnecessary

Not as good as the original

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

We shouldn't live in a world where we need to background check potential partners, but we probably should