Stepfather, The (DVD)
APPROX. 89 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1987 - MPA RATING: R
" ...a taut thriller capped off by a powerful performance from Terry O’Quinn.
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"Who am I here?"
"The Stepfather" has long been considered one of the classic horror films. It proves that gore, T&A, and a huge budget are no substitute for a solid script. It helps that the studio went with a pair of great scribes. One of the writers involved with the initial draft was Brian Garfield, the author of the hit novels Hopscotch and Death Wish, both of which were turned into films. The script was later rewritten by crime novelist Donald E. Westlake whose Parker novels inspired the films "Point Blank," "The Outfit," and "Payback." The story itself was loosely based on John List, an accountant who methodically murdered his family and escaped justice for nearly 20 years.
Another reason for "The Stepfather´s" success is definitely the film´s star, Terry O´Quinn. Nowadays, everybody knows him as John Locke on ABC´s "Lost." Back then (and for a while afterwards), O´Quinn was still a journeyman character actor. In "The Stepfather," he plays the titular character who has just brutally murdered his family then calmly showers and shaves. To the authorities, he has disappeared without a trace. In actuality, he has established a new identity as real estate agent Jerry Blake. He is now married to Susan Maine (Shelley Hack) whose daughter, Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), is still broken up over her real father´s death. She gets into fights at school and has trouble dealing with her new stepfather.
He wears sweater vests and has a corny, old-fashioned attitude about family values. Everybody gets along great with the guy, but Stephanie just feels there´s something wrong about him. Of course, nobody will believe her. Not her mom or her friends. Nobody ever believes the protagonist, if they did, there wouldn´t be a movie, I guess. Meanwhile, Jim Ogilvie (Stephen Shellen), the brother of one of Blake´s victims, searches high and low for the killer of his family.
O´Quinn really is fantastic in the lead role. In one of the film´s iconic and chilling moments, Blake gets flustered and stumbles over which identity he´s currently using. Another scene has him going into a complete emotional meltdown in the basement, a moment that made it to number 70 on Bravo's list of 100 Scariest Movie Moments. One minute, he´s Ward Cleaver, the next; he´s trying to split your skull in half with a cleaver. He´s able to turn it on a dime with nothing more than a simple change in his facial expressions. There´s not a lot of blood in this film and what there is on-screen is pretty tame by today´s standards. O´Quinn is the one that makes "The Stepfather" as creepy as it is because his character is one that could realistically exist right next door.
