Stepfather III (also known as "Stepfather 3: Father's Day") is the final installment in the original Stepfather film series (before the 2009 remake). Stepfather 1 and 2 were great thriller/horror/slasher films. They were followed up by, and ended, with this 1992 made-for-television film.
So the story takes place sometime after Stepfather 2. Once again, the Stepfather has escaped from the mental asylum and is wandering alone in a thunderstorm in an eerie opening. He finds a back-alley plastic surgeon and gets him to change his physical appearance (without the use of anesthesia!). The whole opening here is very creepy and deeply unnerving. The creepiest is probably the part where the plastic surgeon berates Stepfather for remaining on his premises during his healing process. Stepfather just evilly glares at him through the bloody bandages while casually sipping a beverage through a straw. When the process is complete and the bandages come off, he murders the plastic surgeon and nine months later has began a new life as a man named Keith Grant, working as a gardener. Soon, he meets a new family and wants them all to himself.....or else!
One of the biggest problems many seem to have with this film is that Terry O'Quinn didn't reprise the iconic role. I do agree to an extent, but personally, I think that Robert Wightman really nailed it. He is kind of more whiney and somewhat childlike that O'Quinn's portrayal (which can mess with the continuity that this is the same character), but it is these antics that truly make Wightman's performance terrifying. Just imagine, a serial killer who is like a big spoiled kid who will snap and kill anyone when things do not go his way. He kind of makes the role his own. And while O'Quinn's portrayal was more akin to that of mass murderer John List (who the stepfather character is based on), Wightman was more of a Ted Bundy lookalike type. A bit of an All-American pretty boy who is a violent killer. I have always liked Wightman, ever since seeing him in The Waltons, and I do miss seeing him in movies and TV shows.
The rest of the cast did a very good job too, and the final ten minutes of the film are truly nail-biting. It was also satisfying seeing The Stepfather finally die for real in such a gory way! ( I won't give away too much, but lets just say he got what he deserved and all of his previous victims finally got justice. A perfect violent end for such a violent and insane P.O.S.)
Really, I have never had a big problem with this film. Yes, sometimes it drags a little, but I am just always entertained by Wightman's performance. It is weird, because I also miss O'Quinn at the same time, and part of me wishes he had have come back. But on the other hand, as I like Wightman, I can't complain in the slightest of the casting replacement.
In short, Stepfather III is a good film and good ending to the trilogy.
5/10
So the story takes place sometime after Stepfather 2. Once again, the Stepfather has escaped from the mental asylum and is wandering alone in a thunderstorm in an eerie opening. He finds a back-alley plastic surgeon and gets him to change his physical appearance (without the use of anesthesia!). The whole opening here is very creepy and deeply unnerving. The creepiest is probably the part where the plastic surgeon berates Stepfather for remaining on his premises during his healing process. Stepfather just evilly glares at him through the bloody bandages while casually sipping a beverage through a straw. When the process is complete and the bandages come off, he murders the plastic surgeon and nine months later has began a new life as a man named Keith Grant, working as a gardener. Soon, he meets a new family and wants them all to himself.....or else!
One of the biggest problems many seem to have with this film is that Terry O'Quinn didn't reprise the iconic role. I do agree to an extent, but personally, I think that Robert Wightman really nailed it. He is kind of more whiney and somewhat childlike that O'Quinn's portrayal (which can mess with the continuity that this is the same character), but it is these antics that truly make Wightman's performance terrifying. Just imagine, a serial killer who is like a big spoiled kid who will snap and kill anyone when things do not go his way. He kind of makes the role his own. And while O'Quinn's portrayal was more akin to that of mass murderer John List (who the stepfather character is based on), Wightman was more of a Ted Bundy lookalike type. A bit of an All-American pretty boy who is a violent killer. I have always liked Wightman, ever since seeing him in The Waltons, and I do miss seeing him in movies and TV shows.
The rest of the cast did a very good job too, and the final ten minutes of the film are truly nail-biting. It was also satisfying seeing The Stepfather finally die for real in such a gory way! ( I won't give away too much, but lets just say he got what he deserved and all of his previous victims finally got justice. A perfect violent end for such a violent and insane P.O.S.)
Really, I have never had a big problem with this film. Yes, sometimes it drags a little, but I am just always entertained by Wightman's performance. It is weird, because I also miss O'Quinn at the same time, and part of me wishes he had have come back. But on the other hand, as I like Wightman, I can't complain in the slightest of the casting replacement.
In short, Stepfather III is a good film and good ending to the trilogy.
5/10