Review of Stepmonster

Todd (Billy Corben) loves comic books to the extreme. This twelve year old eats, drinks, and sleeps cartoons. Hoping to change this mania, his dad, George (Alan Thicke) makes his son take violin lessons, which the lad hates. Todd even goes as far as to tape violin music so his father thinks he is practicing in his room even when he isn't. Thank goodness Todd's mother is more understanding. One fateful weekend, the family trio goes camping but, as George explains, its a working minibreak as he is to meet with a beautiful client, Denise Gore (Robin Riker) to design her house. All of a sudden, Mother goes missing without a trace. The heartbroken men go home, even as Todd thinks a comic book monster "got her". Flash forwarding six months, George is now engaged to Denise, all of people, as she has helped him through his grief and loneliness. But, Todd suspects Denise had something to do with his Mother's disappearance. In fact, Todd gathers evidence that Ms. Gore is the actual monster who can shape shift when she wants. Fearing the worst will happen to them both if the marriage takes place, Todd tries everything to stop it. Will this boy be able to defeat a clever monster? It's possible! This silly but funny flick will please families in a minor way, especially ones with preteen boys. When the stepmonster changes form, its not truly frightening but very ugly and its appearance may scare little ones. Also, there is some scenes of her "out for blood" so that may not sit well either. But, tongue in cheek, its pretty entertaining. Thicke does his domineering dad well while Corben is a natural as the child actor. As for Riker, she is very beautiful and sly, fostering a wonder of why she didn't make it bigger. Kind of nice to see Ami Dolenz, Corey Feldman and John Astin, too. The sets, costumes, and effects are only average, kind of campy and cheesy but that doesn't really matter. If you can locate a copy, this film should prove a small hit to you and your youngsters.