The Stepfather

Highly underrated and effective attempt at psychological horror

Any good slasher villain has a hook to them. Freddy got the glove, Jason got the mask and our boy "Jerry" here has the heart of every recently widowed single white woman in the country. It never quite lives up to the carnage of the opening scene but most stepdads are kinda disappointing after.

The Stepfather lives and dies on the back of Terry O'Quinn. He looks like the prototypical stepfather, and then he throws in an unhinged performance that emotes the perfect kind of unnerving energy. The sleuthing bit of the film is mundane, but every time O'Quinn is on screen I found myself entertained.

A bad-ass performance from Terry O'Quinn and some surprisingly good dark humour. A solid thriller.

Wow, that opening scene is terrific. It doesn't reach those heights again, but it comes close a few times. A few of the secondary scenes with the daughter and/or mother are a bit dull, but for the most part it's a disturbing premise executed really well.

Above average generic thriller. Ending was more hack and slash that it needed to be, O'Quinn is excellently creepy.

Cheap horror movie that resembles the kind of psychological, no gore scares you might see on Lifetime, but this one, much like its made-for-tv kin, basically disappears from memory the moment it's over. I have no idea how two sequels were made.

Terry O'Quinn gives the film's only good performance. The opening is fantastic but the plotting is otherwise too by the numbers, barring one effective moment of subversion. The music is awful, usually a highlight in 80s horror

The opening had me every bit as excited as the other reviewers here but the kill that takes place during the showing had me at full attention. Simple but so brutal it was shocking, like the classroom attack in The Brood it almost seems unthinkable. Loved this on first watch and am excited to add it into a mix of October films that now runs hundreds of films long.

Nothing to original or groundbreaking, but it is a solid slasher flick. The score is great.

Engaging story, good performances by O'Quinn and Schoelen and a good script. Most of the problems lie in the redundant brother subplot - which while having a good pay off eventually was ultimately unnecessary and consistently dull compared to the main plot. The music was pretty awful as well.

beginning scene..... horror magic. the rest of the film certainly delivers enough entertainment, but the beginning mood, scene and temperament of our antagonist during the whole thing is a horrific orgasm.

Would have worked better if there was any ambiguity about the stepfather's true nature. 80% of the movie is waiting until the characters catch up with the viewers, the final 20% is a generic slasher-finale. A great performance by O'Quinn and competent, if uninspired, directing earn the film a passing grade.

Although the plot borrows heavily from Psycho, Terry O'Quinn does a fine job with the role of creepazoid Jerry.

some movies should never have a remake..this movie starring Lost s own Terry O Quinn and Jill Scholen is a classic. Its so dark and haunting..what a good character as to watch his character transform..its a good solid movie

It has its highs and lows, and the judge is out (that is, I'm too lazy to try to remember) on whether it ultimately is deserving of a "bog-standard" or a "slightly above average" sticker. Whatever. More importantly: Hollywood, pull your head out of your sequel-, reboot- and superhero-infested behind and give Terry O'Quinn some lead roles, why dontcha?

A smart, well-paced script, good direction, a likeable heroine, & a brilliant performance by Terry O'Quinn put this on a level above most "___ from hell" efforts, and make it a super enjoyable watch. Jill Schoelen isn't always great in her role, & there are a few undeniable flaws- awkward third-act nude scene that exists for literally no reason, for example- but all-in-all there's much more good here than bad. The ending is both satisfying & sweet, in that weird horror movie way. Check this out.

Pretty good thriller.

There is something to the othering of traditional family values as "the stepfather" (the replacement of the "murdered" Father) while normalizing therapy and single-parent households. Unfortunately, it's not clear if there's any more here than a simple illustration of the paradigm shift on the left coast. The film doesn't really probe the implications unlike Psycho or the criminally underrated Peeping Tom. Still, it's an enjoyable piece of cinema mostly due to O'Quinn's phenomenal performance.

This sort of works more on the level of a satire or dark comedy than actual horror movie. A big part of the reason for that is we are in on the whole premise from the very beginning, and indeed we follow our killer around as a protagonist. This is a recipe for very little suspense. Terry O'Quinn is plenty fun to watch and it does satisfy a taste for some blood, but this is more of a snack than a full-fledged meal.

Almost so bad it's good, but not quite. Contrary to other reviews, Terry O'Quinn is not good in this.

Rewatch for the first time in over 20 years, and it's honestly lost very little; the perfect Reagan-era suburbia where the nuclear family must be protected at all costs... except the missing piece is, as the very first scene makes clear, a complete psychopath. O'Quinn is brilliant.

Completely and utterly anchored by Terry O'Quinn.

Oddly low-key and slack thriller starts with a quite ballsy and brave opening gambit – presenting a terrifying and disconcerting opening set piece that effectively removes the suspense and ambiguity from its characters, however for this to work, the characters would need to have some degree of depth or complexity, rather than the cardboard cut-outs supplied here. Taken in the spirit it is presented, as an undemanding TV-level stalker film, its an acceptable diversion.

Disappointing. The performances are fine; O'Quinn is creepy and menacing, while the daughter is angsty and emotional. It's the story which really is a lazy effort. People randomly get offed by a psychopath realtor with little sense of forward planning or ability to lie convincingly when needed. The movie doesn't go to any interesting locations, the direction is underwhelming, and sideplots are an afterthought. Certainly a second- or third-tier thriller at best.

Pretty good for a cheap horror picture. About a stepfather who kills his families when he realizes that they too are imperfect.

There's nothing earthshattering about The Stepfather, but it is a horrifying concept that is written and executed extremely well - a great gem of a psychological thriller from the late 80s.

One of the rare cases of a movie being completely made by the script -- by famed mystery novelist Donald Westlake. Clever, scary, many touches of delicious humor. A real classic that's already being forgotten

Super creepy flick that benefited from a second viewing thanks to The Last Drive In on Shudder. Terry O'Quinn is terrifying in this flick and he's among the very few who could sell the "Who am I here?" line. Jill Schoelen is also great.

Carried so well on the backs of the brilliantly creepy Terry O’Quinn and super adorable Jill Schoelen that I can overlook any issues with major plot holes and kinda lame sluething scenes. The idea of a slasher villain whose whole thing is his obsession with having a picturesque nuclear family is highly amusing.

Superior psychological horror thriller, with an outstanding performance from O'Quinn.

O padrasto estreava há 35 anos na Suécia. Acredita que nunca vi esse filme? Sanamos isso hoje. Locke cabeludo. Mas a surpresa fica pelo roteiro do Donald Westlake que eu não fazia ideia que era roteirista desse filme. Não é um slasher, mas em geral também não é memorável. Box Slashers Volume 11.

Terry O'Quinn was great, Jill Schoelen was cute and the film had great tension overall.

Okay Movie

"Shadow of a Doubt" in 1980s suburbia. There were quite a lot of domestic thrillers like this being made in those years, so this doesn't particularly stand out - in fact it's as middle-of-the-road as they get, but still perfectly watchable.

A rare case of an anti-Reagan values thriller from the 80ies. This looked like a promising start for Ruben, who sadly set up residence in the town of Suck after making this minor but interesting flick.

Oh John Locke, you can creep me out any time!

80s classic psychological-thriller-horror. Terry O'Quinn delivers an awesome performance.

I will always love the side character who nobody knows about but is tracking down the killer only to die immediately after making contact with the killer.

Little gem. Terry O'Quinn is amazing as villain.

Loved the mix of horror and small bits of black humour.