Terry O'Quinn

Jill Schoelen

Shelley Hack

Charles Lanyer

Stephen Shellen

Stephen E. Miller

Robyn Stevan

Jeff Schultz

Lindsay Bourne

Anna Hagan

Gillian Barber

Blu Mankuma

Jackson Davies

Sandra Head

Gabrielle Rose

Richard Sargent

Margot Pinvidic

Rochelle Greenwood

Don S. Williams

Don MacKay

Dale Wilson

Gary Hetherington

Andrew Snider

Marie Stillin

Paul Batten

Sheila Paterson

John Lindley

Donald E. Westlake

Brian Garfield

Carolyn Lefcourt

George Bowers

James William Newport

Joseph Ruben

Jay Benson

Dave Bowe

Michael Smith

John L. Anderson

Christopher Koefoed

John Wardlow

Richard  Stewart

Jim Jasterzebski

G.W. Davis

Scott Irvine

Bill McCurraugh

Kathleen Bennett

Barbara Harris

Tim Myers

Chris Haire

Bruce Giesbrecht

Keith Stafford

Doug Davey

Ken Hemphill

Dennis A. Brown

Geoff Hilliard

Barry Donlevy

Gary Brooks

Brewster Ingram

Christine Wilson

Larry Sutton

Barry Kootchin

R.K. Hill

Annmarie Corbett

Myrna Cobb

James Marshall

Ken W. Anderson

Matthew O'Connor

Rod Parkhurst

David R. Anderson

David Chiasson

Casey Grant

Jeff Plecas

Jeremy Borsos

William H. Orr

Warren Carr

Len Morganti

Dan Bennett

Rex Raglan

R.D. 'Luther' Fairbairn

Andrew Brown

Tink Ten Eyck

Robert Crone

Chris Harris

Bill Thumm

Jean Murphy

Oliver Berg

Graham Crowell

Michael E. Steele

Duncan MacGregor

John 'Sandy' McCallum

Tim Hogan

John L. Brown

Patti Allen

Linda Kelly

Joanne Ryan

Joseph Lederer

Lynn Elston

Robert Weinberger

Jacob Rupp

Jim Dunn

Kathy Hubble

David Willson

Mike Fenton

Susan Boyd

Kimberley Richardson

Jane Feinberg

Maurice Parkhurst

Mina Mittelman

Judy Taylor

Patrick Moraz

The Stepfather Collection

Horror

Thriller

The Stepfather

ITC Entertainment

New Century Vista Film Company

United States of America

United Kingdom

English

psychopath

widow

shower

stepfather

murder

serial killer

real estate agent

psycho killer

psycho

murder of family

***What if your stepfather is a psycho?***

After an amiable man (Terry O'Quinn) in the Seattle area slays his family he starts a new one under a different identity, but his discerning stepdaughter (Jill Schoelen) picks up on his questionable morality.  

“The Stepfather” (1987) is a solid crime drama/thriller with a bit o’ horror. Movies like “Psycho” (1960), “Play Misty for Me” (1971), “Halloween” (1978), “The Shining” (1980) and “Fatal Attraction” (1987) come to mind, but this is equal parts coming-of-age drama in the mold of “The Crush” (1993) with a sort of inverted story.  O’Quinn effectively portrays the delusional titular character while Schoelen is reminiscent of a young Demi Moore. The decidedly 80’s score is quaint. 

The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in the Vancouver area, including Edgemont Village. The main cast is rounded out by Shelley Hack (the girl’s mother), Charles Lanyer (her therapist) and Stephen Shellen (the justice-seeking brother of the original family).

GRADE: B+

CinemaSerf

Leaving a scene of carnage behind him, “Jerry” (Terry Quinn) chucks the evidence over the side of his departing ferry and goes off in search of a new life. He is soon settled down with “Susan” (Shelley Hack) and her teenage daughter “Stephanie” (Jill Schoelen). That all seems to be proceeding well enough, he’s got a job as an estate agent and though his relationship with his new step-daughter could be better, things seem fine. Suddenly, though, it’s as if a switch has been flipped and his previously more menacing character starts to rear its ugly head. His family aren’t quite as malleable as he required and so, well, you can imagine his reaction and the rest of the plot. I suspect his approach to a pain-in-the-ass teen might resonate with some, but perhaps not with a family who have to come to terms with his increasingly unpleasant behaviour and that’s really the gist of this. It’s not exactly original, nor does it stray very far from the path of predictability as the drama is repetitively protracted to maximise the sense of peril without really paying much attention to plausibility. We know that “Ogilvie” (Stephen Shellen) is on his trail, but that thread rather peters out before a denouement that is both rushed and clumsily sequel-boding. It’s ok, but nothing special, sorry.

The Stepfather (1987) Original Trailer [FHD]

TCM Slumberground | Wicked Stepmother (1989) & The Stepfather (1987)

Josh Olson on THE STEPFATHER (Trailer Commentary)

Stepfather (1987) - DVD Trailer

The Stepfather( 1987)

He wanted a perfect family in a perfect town. But they couldn't measure up...Neither could the others...

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A review by Wuchak

Written by Wuchak on Thu Sep 05 2019

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