Colibel
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Platypuschow
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 originalThings I Learnt From This Movie: We shouldn't live in a world where we need to background check potential partners, but we probably should
leonardomasi
This direct-to-video remake of the 1987 film gained pretty negative reviews almost everywhere, but I don't think it's that bad: sure, it's very predictable and it kinda lacks the tension of the original, but it's far better than many other thriller/horror flicks out there. The acting is on point, the technical direction is good and the story flows well resulting to be quite entertaining. Also, the characters are not so obvious: when Dylan Walsh/David snaps while fumbling with knives, he mentions that "boys need to be educated with hits and violence" and he may be alluding to his own twisted education, the origin of his madness. The only true turnoff is the ending: repeating the same scenario of the opening was not a smart move. After all, folks... it's a direct-to-video, one must not expect too much from it.
hellholehorror
This is a very predictable and slightly bland horror film. It is not amazingly gory but it does have some violence. You can predict exactly where this is going long before it happens. I found it quite easy going to watch and the climax was suitably exciting to make it feel like it was worthwhile watching. There is nothing that you can take away from this film except the happy knowledge that he survives and there is a sequel. This takes itself seriously and there is no knowing comedy about the slightly tacky setup. There are better films than this but the relative blandness works in its favour giving you a slow ride to oblivion on the psychotic stepfather's path to ultimate annihilation.
canuckteach
I did not see the original (1987) version, which, I gather was more gory. This 'PG' movie constituted a decent time-waster, with a few thrills. Sela Ward is ageless and always pleasant to watch. Dylan Walsh plays the villain, who does a good job of altering his appearance, and putting on a sweet family-loving appearance to hide his dark motives.Comparisons are made here at IMDb to the real-life case of John List. I didn't see much of a connection. Walsh's character uses the alias David Harris, a man who drifts from single-mom to the next, leaving a trail of bloodshed. A better comparison - one I would recommend over this offering - is the Brit production 'Amnesia', with John Hannah, a 3-parter. Hannah is a detective with his own marital problems who stumbles onto related cases wherein the family is 'eliminated' via an accident, and the ex-husband drifts away after cashing an insurance cheque. The suspect is a man with similarities to the culprit, but claims amnesia! Gripping! But Stepfather isn't made of such stern stuff. David Harris alters his appearance, but, although his m.o. is suspected from the film's outset, we see no ongoing effort by the police to track him down, other than a America's Most Wanted broadcast. He really does make a good Stepfather to Sela's kids, until her college-age son returns home. There are minor clashes. Sela makes no effort to do a background check on her new beau, whom she intends to marry. Soon, he must dispose of a few people who are 'on' to him, but the local police are inept at linking him to the events. Sela's son is more aggressive, fortunately.All-in-all, well-performed and a few thrills. The ending is face-lifted from the 2004 Amnesia (mentioned above), but with less effectiveness. Other than sex and free 'room & board', it's hard to see what David Harris gains from his nefarious deeds, whereas in 'Amnesia', we can see the bad guy's ill-gained dollars adding up substantially.
