I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I was expecting a really bad horror film but thanks to Terry O Quinn the movie is saved. O'Quinn is simultaneously creepy and hilarious. He stabs a man and then states 'you should call before you drop in.' I laughed! There is another vicious scene where he beats his wife with a phone. It comes so unexpectedly that I actually cringed. Which is unusual for me in horror films.
Another funny scene is when O'Quinn takes his anger out on his tools. He rants, raves and beats up the basement. The actor is excellent at losing the plot and nutting off. It is damn funny but also unnerving and you are glad that you are not living with him. In a nod to the Shining, a superior film about another family with a psycho father. O'Quinn really hammers the door. O'Quinn really goes for it! That poor door. What a nut!
A scene that sticks out to me is when the psychiatrist tricks Jerry into showing him a house. His questions are so obvious, they are questions only a psychiatrist would ask. He may as well resort to the old cliche of 'tell me about your mother.' Jerry goes nuts and kills the shrink but not before some hilarious dialogue from Jerry as he starts nutting off.
The Stepfather is an eighties film that picks up on the collective, cultural anxiety at this time. The divorce rate was increasing and the nuclear family was changing. Conservatives were not happy about this. From the late 1970's onwards divorce had began to increase. People were deciding not to live in misery and were starting to do their own thing. The mother in the film is punished for finding a new man. I am not sure what she is meant to do exactly. Become a high profile lesbian perhaps? She is also punished for not having faith and believing in her family. Her family being her daughter in this case. This is what makes this film something of a teen flick. The teenage daughter is of course right about Jerry and becomes Nancy Drew. She investigates Jerry and ultimately kills him. She is the main protagonist in the film. It is a teenagers nightmare and Jill Schoelan is the heroine who can survive the madman. The film is the ultimate empowerment of the teenage girl.
Jerry himself is obviously a conservative, right wing, family values, kind of guy. Jerry the psychotic republican. He should run for office. It is to bad that he is completely psychotic! Jerry could be a Ted Bundy that was never caught. There are some nice moments in the film from director Joseph Ruben who shows a scene where Jerry watches a family. This seemingly perfect family of wife, daughter and husband are a psychological schema for Jerry. To Jerry they represent the perfect and ideal family. However, this ideal can never live up to actual reality so Jerry will always kill his family for disappointing him. 'Maybe they disappointed him!' Jerry says with vehemence, when he see's an article in the local newspaper about the previous family that he murdered. These little details made me think that the director is not a complete hack.
The film has some problems, the acting is bad from all. Even O'Quinn is pretty silly and sneers. Sneering, see he must be the bad guy! All the actors are really bad and wooden, most notably Schoelan. Scary Jerry has some sought of weird sexual attraction to her. The writing is also bad. There is a subplot of the most recent murdered family's brothers chasing Jerry and it goes absolutely nowhere. The plot is also horribly predictable and you will know what I mean when you watch it. Of course the daughter sees through Jerry's act. Of course she is a problem child that gets into trouble. Although she acts like a member of the Brady Bunch. You also have the 'burnt out journalist,' another character stereotype. You even have the token black guy who, as you guessed it, is 'the world weary, hard boiled' cop. AAARRRGHHH!!! Why can't writers just spend a little bit of time on their characters?
The end is interesting. The little bird house, representing Jerry's ideal world, is on top of a large phallic bit of timber. The daughter cuts down the house. She has destroyed Jerry and this is symbolically destroying him by cutting down his manly phallic pole. His power has been exorcised. Jerry has fallen and now so has his psychotic ideals.
Despite the film being completely obvious it is still enjoyable. You could do much worse when you choose a film from your horror section down at your local video store. I give this a 6 out of 10. What ever happened to Terry O'Quinn? He showed some real promise in this film.
Another funny scene is when O'Quinn takes his anger out on his tools. He rants, raves and beats up the basement. The actor is excellent at losing the plot and nutting off. It is damn funny but also unnerving and you are glad that you are not living with him. In a nod to the Shining, a superior film about another family with a psycho father. O'Quinn really hammers the door. O'Quinn really goes for it! That poor door. What a nut!
A scene that sticks out to me is when the psychiatrist tricks Jerry into showing him a house. His questions are so obvious, they are questions only a psychiatrist would ask. He may as well resort to the old cliche of 'tell me about your mother.' Jerry goes nuts and kills the shrink but not before some hilarious dialogue from Jerry as he starts nutting off.
The Stepfather is an eighties film that picks up on the collective, cultural anxiety at this time. The divorce rate was increasing and the nuclear family was changing. Conservatives were not happy about this. From the late 1970's onwards divorce had began to increase. People were deciding not to live in misery and were starting to do their own thing. The mother in the film is punished for finding a new man. I am not sure what she is meant to do exactly. Become a high profile lesbian perhaps? She is also punished for not having faith and believing in her family. Her family being her daughter in this case. This is what makes this film something of a teen flick. The teenage daughter is of course right about Jerry and becomes Nancy Drew. She investigates Jerry and ultimately kills him. She is the main protagonist in the film. It is a teenagers nightmare and Jill Schoelan is the heroine who can survive the madman. The film is the ultimate empowerment of the teenage girl.
Jerry himself is obviously a conservative, right wing, family values, kind of guy. Jerry the psychotic republican. He should run for office. It is to bad that he is completely psychotic! Jerry could be a Ted Bundy that was never caught. There are some nice moments in the film from director Joseph Ruben who shows a scene where Jerry watches a family. This seemingly perfect family of wife, daughter and husband are a psychological schema for Jerry. To Jerry they represent the perfect and ideal family. However, this ideal can never live up to actual reality so Jerry will always kill his family for disappointing him. 'Maybe they disappointed him!' Jerry says with vehemence, when he see's an article in the local newspaper about the previous family that he murdered. These little details made me think that the director is not a complete hack.
The film has some problems, the acting is bad from all. Even O'Quinn is pretty silly and sneers. Sneering, see he must be the bad guy! All the actors are really bad and wooden, most notably Schoelan. Scary Jerry has some sought of weird sexual attraction to her. The writing is also bad. There is a subplot of the most recent murdered family's brothers chasing Jerry and it goes absolutely nowhere. The plot is also horribly predictable and you will know what I mean when you watch it. Of course the daughter sees through Jerry's act. Of course she is a problem child that gets into trouble. Although she acts like a member of the Brady Bunch. You also have the 'burnt out journalist,' another character stereotype. You even have the token black guy who, as you guessed it, is 'the world weary, hard boiled' cop. AAARRRGHHH!!! Why can't writers just spend a little bit of time on their characters?
The end is interesting. The little bird house, representing Jerry's ideal world, is on top of a large phallic bit of timber. The daughter cuts down the house. She has destroyed Jerry and this is symbolically destroying him by cutting down his manly phallic pole. His power has been exorcised. Jerry has fallen and now so has his psychotic ideals.
Despite the film being completely obvious it is still enjoyable. You could do much worse when you choose a film from your horror section down at your local video store. I give this a 6 out of 10. What ever happened to Terry O'Quinn? He showed some real promise in this film.