Customer Reviews

The Stepfather

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

i couldn't be happier that this movie has finally found it's way to dvd. one of my all time favorites and what was becoming the "holy grail" of movies to find on dvd. the transfer looked good without any obvious "cleaning up" of the scenes for dvd. i wish there were a few more special features but i am happy they included "the stepfather cronicles" because i love hearing the behind the scenes workings of my favorites. terry o'quinn does an acting tour de force as jerry blake, the stepfather. he so completely inhabits the role that i am suprised and thankful that he was not type cast after this role.i read somewhere one time that his role as the stepfather was a cross between mr. rogers and mark harmon. i can see that. it may not be hamlet or macbeth but it is damn fine acting. jill shoelen is great as the daughter. i am so happy to hear that the dvd release may have brought her back to the conscience of producers and casting directors. this is a great movie that possibly gets a bad rap as "horror" or "slasher" neither of which it is. it is a great movie about one mans struggle to make his world the way he believes it should be and treating it, and everyone around him, like an "etch o sketch" when they inevitably disappoint him. he simply reinvents himself elsewhere and then cleans up the mess at home before embarking on to his new existence. do yourself a favor and watch this movie.

I'm pretty sure I'm with everyone else, on this page, when I say it's about time!
I'm a huge scarry movie fan, and I must admit, I'm a bit partial to the older films, than most of what comes out today.
That being said, If your seeking a real tale of fright, this is your movie. It's funny, everytime you get together with people & talk about scarry movies, "The Stepfather" is either always the last one mentioned, or not mentioned at all; and I can't, for the life of me, understand why.
It's an original story, not like other scarry movies where the storyline is being used for the 100th time. This movie has everything you could want in a horror film. It has the right elements of atmosphere, music,suspense, character development, and just the right amount of the red stuff . . . without going overboard! I haven't seen many films that actually bring these key elements together just right, and this one does it right. There are a couple of comical moments, as is usual, but for the most part, this film is dark, serious, and means business.
Maybe that's it, maybe it's to real for people to accept.
I promise,when watching this one, you will not be leaving in the middle of the film for extra soda & popcorn!

I Saw The Remake Trailer And Smiled

Why? Because I knew because of this we were finally gonna get the original Stepfather on DVD. This movie for me was one of those rare times I came home late put on cable an caught the opening scene without knowing what this movie was called or what it was about. Isn't that great when that happens? Your thinking what is this? Then he walked down those stairs passed the bodies and blood and out the door, I was glued to my TV from that moment on. This has been one of my favorites ever since. You know what else is wonderful about this movie, the cinematography,the look and feel of this picture. The neighborhood,the fall,the leaves,trees, the homes the street the lighting. I wish this were coming out on Blu Ray, hey maybe.

Till this day no matter how many times I've seen it I still get soooo humorously annoyed with JIM OGILVIE. He does this incredible job of tracking Jerry down. He knows the damn house he lives in now, walks in the door with his gun in his pocket lol and then is shocked to see him with blood on him.
What a boob! That and the sound of the phone hitting Shelly Hacks face still makes me cringe. Great writing, great directing, and wonderful acting,this film is scary yet so warm and inviting. You actually feel sorry for this lunatic. Must Have!

Jerry Blake (Terry O'Quinn) is a new man since murdering his entire family and acquiring a new identity. No one knows who he really is, including his new wife (Shelley Hack) or his stepdaughter (Jill Schoelen from POPCORN and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK). Don't worry, this isn't a spoiler, we know all of this information from the very beginning. Jerry sets up his latest "family" right away, leaving his past behind, as if it never happened. You see, Jerry just wants the perfect family, without fuss or problems. As long as everyone co-operates, everything is dandy. It's when people start disappointing him that Jerry has to respond. He must have order and perfection, or else! THE STEPFATHER is a fantastic 80s thriller, in the same league as FATAL ATTRACTION and future films like THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. O'Quinn is masterful as Blake, a man torn between pretentious calm and homicidal violence. Ms. Hack is excellent as the oblivious mum, while Schoelen plays the pesky fly in Jerry's ointment! A great story w/ a finale that rivals the afore-mentioned classics of the genre! Buy immediately!...

I love the stepfather one of my favorite movie, i was so glad to see it made it on dvd it was so hard to find...

The tepid 2009 remake of The Stepfather did manage to conjure up one good thing: it meant that we would finally have a proper release of Joseph Ruben's original shocker. Before he was best known as John Locke on Lost, Terry O'Quinn played Jerry Blake, a man who seeks familial perfection however he can get it. After wasting away his family, Jerry moves onto a single mom (Shelley Hack) and her teenage daughter (Jill Schoelen), who suspects that there is definitely something wrong with her stepdad. And boy, she couldn't be any more right. Though a bit dated, The Stepfather is still a compelling, frightening trip, with a spectacularly demented performance from O'Quinn that those who only know him for his work on Lost will definitely be in for a surprise once they see this. Needless to say, forget the recent, needless remake, and check out the original, and best, The Stepfather.

Terry O'Quinn (Lost) stars as a psycho looking for the perfect family. When they prove to not be what he's looking for.....he murders them. A year after killing a family, he has moved on to a widow (Shelley Hack) and her troubled daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen).

Stephanie doesn't like him from the start and thinks there's something wrong with him. The mother thinks he's perfect though of course. But when Stephanie proves to be what he's not looking for in a daughter, he's ready to kill and move on.

Yes, the film is a B-Movie but O'Quinn and the hot Jill Schoelen make the film worth watching. O'Quinn perfectly balances his performance. By that I mean in one scene he's so good at being a nice guy that you forget that he's a total nut. Then of course there's scenes where he's believable as a mad man.

I thought I had the movie pegged. I thought the family dog would be the first to go. But the movie is a little less predictable than I expected. The only problems I had with the film is that some of the violence is corny and Shelley Hack is awful. Other than that this film didn't have to be remade and the remake certainly isn't as acclaimed but that shouldn't be a surprise. I mean when does a remake ever get more acclaim than the original ??

There are at least six actors who have roles or bit parts in this film that appeared on the X-Files (and Millennium) TV series. Since I am a fan of the X-Files series, it made watching this film all the more fun. If I'd known that, I would've gotten a drinking game started! I hadn't seen The Stepfather since I rented it on videotape back in the 80's. It still holds up well and is quite entertaining, though the quality of this DVD transfer shows that this film is in serious need of a restoration. I hope somebody gets around to it so that it can be transferred to hi-def blu-ray. If Night of the Creeps can get the kick ass royal hi-def treatment, why can't The Stepfather?

Finally on DVD!'The Stepfather' is an 80's horror thriller that is a lot of fun! Terry O'Quinn (unknown at the time) gives a chilling and comical performance as the title character in this low budget, but effective chiller. The movie score is like a bad 80's TV movie and the acting is a little stiff at times, but overall this film is very entertaining and quick paced. The blood and gore are dialed back a bit, but it is handled well and is effective. Overall this is a decent horror thriller from the time period and is a lot of fun, especially watching O'Quinn in his unnerving and cheesey performance as "The Stepfather! ......remember "Father Knows Best"!

The DVD has a nice clean transfer and there is a commentary and a new feature-ette with some of the cast including Jill Schoelen.

Ah,yes, it's finally here for mass consumption, the original The Stepfather. I've been waiting for this one for a real long while. It's been on my top ten list of most wanted movies on DVD(which also included Howard The Duck, Night of the Creeps, and The Monster Squad---all on disc now, YAY). This is the real deal when it comes to well made, well acted, ORIGINAL, horror cinema. This is one of the few horror films, which is like Psycho, that is a character driven tale of suspense. Right from the opening shot the audience is aware that Terry O'Quinn's stepfather AKA Jerry is a real mean customer as he walks over the bloody corpses of his previous family. The audience is clued into the malevolence the whole film, unlike the characters which is also a staple rule of Hitchcockian suspense.

All the performances in this film are very good but Terry O'Quinn and Jill Schoelen steal the show. They are both very good and very believable. O'Quinn creates magic on screen creating a character who is a horrible, he has MURDERED CHILDREN--GASPS, but manages to have the audience on pins and needles when he comes close to getting caught. The film and performance manages the miracle of subverting his horrible acts and getting us on his side, similar to Norman Bates in Psycho. Ah, but then there's the teen rebel stepdaughter played by Jill Schoelen. She manages to get our sympathy too. And she's also playing a troubled and troublemaking character. Jill Schoelen has been around the block as far as genre fare goes, and to me she is one of the great beauties to come out of the eighties(Thank you director Joe Ruben for the unnecessary Schoelen nude scene, no matter how brief). Shelly Hack(Charlie's Angels TV show, Troll) plays Jerry's object of family desire and she shakes and traces of her Charlie's Angels past right away and pulls off the suburban housewife act well. You really don't want to see her hurt, even though you also stress over Jerry getting caught.

Now this film is frightening, suspensefull, and in some moments very intense, but my favorite thing about it, besides O'Quinn's masterful performance, is the black comedy. It's so stark and on the money. This is totally a reaction to the Reagan era of the early 80's. Jerry wants the perfect family, yard, the picket fence, family dog, ETC. Sex is not spoke about and not something that is necessary to a marriage but rather a chore. He's repressed, homicidal, neat, Neo-Con of the scariest Dick Cheney order. Even the firm he sells houses for as the American Eagle as it's trademark---the eagle also represents a predator which Jerry himself is as well. The comedy is never too broad, but just right. It all seems natural and not made out of bits or shctick. It comes from the situation and the way crazy 'ol Jerry reacts and switches from balls out crazy to smiling family man of the decade. Terry O'Quinn can not be praised enough for his performance in this film. He makes the whole thing worth it. He was born to play this part. Now I know some of you smarty-pants film students who take everthing you hear in class or read in those nifty books about filmmaking will whine that there's no surprise or suspense in a film where you know who the killer and where the threat is coming from right from the start. I see, STOP READING THOSE DUMB BOOKS AND ACTUALLYY TRY TO BE CREATIVE FOR ONCE! It's much harder and way more fun to portray a film with this structure. It's a master class in how suspense and audience manipulation works. Hell, if people just created stores for film without thinking about structure, conventions, or necessary contrivances(like having you hero be likeable and perfect, having a twist, three acts, blah, blah, blah) a lot more interesting and memorable films will be made.

Now, this new DVD, the only DVD now that I think of it, has three great special features. A feature length commentary by director Joseph Ruben, moderated by Fangoria film critic Michael Gingold, a thirty minute retro making of doc, and the film's original theatrical trailer. The commentary track is good, but a little too dry. Thankfully, Gingold is there to moderate as Ruben seems to have a very sketchy memory and doesn't remember all the details. The making of doc is very comprehenssive and features Ruben, one of the story writers, and the producers, but only Jill Scholen shows up to represent the actors. I really want to hear Terry O'Quinn's thoughts on his iconic character, though maybe he doesn't think it's that iconic now that he has all his Lost fame in view. Now the thing that really bummed me out about Shout Factory's special edition is the transfer itself. It's been remastered but the print isn't cleaned up. There's still visable pops and blemishes all throughout the film. I really have liked them to clean the print. It's has a high grain factor as well. The sequel looks better on disc then the original and that's a damn shame. Why didn't Joseph Ruben supervise the transfer himself. I guess there was enough clout attached to this film to remake it but not shell out the cash to properly transfer it o DVD. I wonder if they will release a Blu Ray where this problem is rectified? This transfer issue is the only reason this baby doesn't get that fifth star, because the film in general is an easy five star joy ride.

Bottom line, if you're a huge fan of this film the retro doc is a must, the commentary may be skippable, but just having this great horror film on your shelf, despite this not being the ultimate transfer of it, this is a no brainer must buy now type of thing. Now get to it, or at least do it before you go through with spending ten bucks on the PG-13 watered down remake.