I guess when all is said and done, "The Stepfather" is really just a slasher movie. But . . . it's actually a petty damn good one. A great deal of that is the script and taut direction, but also the pacific northwest setting lends some nice eerie atmosphere. Although there's not a whole lot to say about the casting (they just function), it's Terry O'Quinn who claims this movie for his own, and he's really something to see here; a deranged realtor, moving from one fatherless family to the next until his dreams of the ideal Cleaver household are fulfilled (great satire on family values in Reagan's America). But O'Quinn shifts from calm to madness with the flick of a switch and he puts on a how-to on dominating a movie. Its a defined character with just enough hint of backstory to be real (not to mention psychotic). More importantly, he's unforgettable.
7/10
7/10