Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Sam Panico The last time we saw Henry Morrison/Jerry Blake, he was all shot up and stabbed in the heart, mumbling "I love you" and falling down the steps. Who knew that he'd survive that and come back to do it all over again? Jerry Blake is a survivor. Since the end of the last movie, he's been recovering in a Puget Sound mental institution, one that he soon escapes. Before you can say "new identity" he's become Gene Clifford and has moved into the planned community of Palm Meadows outside Los Angeles.He's already found a new potential family with Carol Grayland (Meg Foster, Masters of the Universe, They Live) and her son, Todd (Becca fave Jonathan Brandis). As the therapist to all of the local wives, he learns that her husband Phil ran away last year and when he tries to come back to his family, our stepfather hero kills him and covers it up.The mail carrier, Matty Crimmins (Caroline Williams, Stretch from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!) sees through his identity when she finds mail addresses to the real Gene Clifford that reveals him to be a black man. You know what happens to people who figure out the stepfather's identity? Yep. They get removed and their wine gets taken.Those bottles of wine and the song "Camptown Races" end up fingering Gene, with Carol confronting him just before they're due to be married. Despite being stabbed, the stepfather almost succeeds in killing again until Todd stabs him with a clawhammer. Then comes the best part in this entire film: mother and son walk out to "Here Comes the Bride," while a choir reacts in abject terror to the fact that they're covered in blood.Oh man - our kinda sorta hero isn't dead yet. He makes his way to the altar before saying, "Until death do us part." Oh man. Well done, dude.After a test screening of the film, Harvey and Bob Weinstein complained about the lack of blood and demanded re-shoots. Director Jeff Burr (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4, Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings) and O'Quinn refused, so the shots were added in by another director.Stepfather 2 isn't quite as good as the original. But hey - if you're looking for one more movie where a dad wipes out his family...

snarlingdogface I never quite understood the hype around the first Stepfather. It shows up on a lot of Top 50 horror lists like Entertainment Weekly. I find the second one to be far more realistic and truer to my own experience with my stepfather. The scene at the wedding was harrowing and definitely conjured up some of my past trauma, the sign of a good stepfather movie. The third one is even more realistic and relatable for me, especially the scene with the woodchipper, but that's a whole other story. In short, this is a strong underrated sequel and better than the original.

Michael_Elliott Stepfather II (1989)** 1/2 (out of 4)The "stepfather" (Terry O'Quinn) somehow manages to survive the events of the first film. As this one here starts off he's locked up inside a mental asylum but managers to escape. He heads to California where he starts working as a councilor and this is where he meets and falls in love with his neighbor Carol (Meg Foster). The two plan to get married but something doesn't sit right with her friend (Caroline Williams) who decides to some research on the mysterious man.STEPFATHER II was released and pretty much died on arrival as critics and fan saw it as a cheap attempt at making money and basically wrote it off as being nothing more than a rehash of the first film. I used to think the same thing but this latest viewer really had me appreciating the film on a whole new level and while it isn't quite as good as the original, it still manages to be interesting in its own way.What I really enjoyed here is that we get to see O'Quinn's character playing the game.By saying that, in the original whenever we met him and his new family, they were already married and starting the story. We didn't get to see how his character worked the woman and the child but that's not the case here. There's a lot more character development all around and I thought it took the basic concept of the original and tried to do more with it.Another plus are the performances. O'Quinn delivers another excellent performance and it didn't matter that this was just a sequel as the actor certainly gave it his all. As with the first film, it doesn't matter if he was playing the nice guy or the evil one, he nailed the part perfectly. Foster was also quite good in the role of the woman struggling to move on. Williams, best known for her role in Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, is also fun to watch here as is Johnathan Brandis as the child and Henry Brown is also good in the role of the doctor.The film starts off rather poorly as its pure slasher dumbness but things eventually start to pick up. I thought Jeff Burr did a very good job at keeping the film moving at a nice pace and there's no doubt that it's better directed than the first. I do wish there was a tad bit more suspense as this here is something that it's lacking. Still, STEPFATHER II is an above average sequel that deserves a better reputation.

Scott LeBrun As far as inevitable and unnecessary sequels go, the adequately acted and directed "Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy" suffers from the fact that we've seen all of this before and will know everything that we can expect. This simply fails to bring anything new to the table. The main reason why it would work (and earn an extra point) is because the filmmakers were able to bring back the original Stepfather, the great Terry O'Quinn, to once again obsess over his search for the "perfect" family and idealized suburban life.As we see from the opening, our merry psycho has survived being shot and stabbed (naturally) and been sent to the nuthouse. Wouldn't you know it: he figures out a method of escaping and hightails it for a different area, and quickly gets up to all of his old tricks. Masquerading this time as a psychiatrist, he sets his sights on real estate agent Carol Grayland (Meg Foster), the single mother of a son named Todd (Jonathan Brandis). Assuming the identity of a "Gene Clifford", he worms his way into their lives.Too much of this is utterly predictable, including characters who seem intelligent but end up acting completely stupid. Director Jeff Burr, whose other horror sequel credits include "Pumpkinhead II" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre III", does manage to create some suspense, and creates a few amusing touches here and there. He does the best he can with the uninspired script.Foster and Brandis are reasonably appealing, and Caroline Williams of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" fame offers an engaging presence in the supporting role of Carols' concerned friend Matty who's suspicious of Gene; Mitchell Laurance is appropriately smarmy in his brief turn as the unreliable ex-husband / father.Dedicated horror fans may derive some entertainment out of this; others are advised to stay away.Followed by another sequel, "Stepfather III" sans O'Quinn; this movies' premiere coincided with the arrest of real-life murderer John List, whose story inspired the script for the first movie.Six out of 10.