On S List of Movie Reviews

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The Stepfather (1987)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 8/12

8/12: Among the scariest movies I remember from the 80's,The Stepfather is every divorced child's worst nightmare.

The concept is so simple that it worked wonders back then which made Terry O'Quinn famous. It's interesting that a man would kill to have the most perfect family possible. Perhaps he should look at himself as the very reason why it fell apart.

Many have praised Terry O'Quinn's performance, but several of his scenes when throwing a temper tantrum are cringeworthy. Nonetheless, he's effective and shines plenty of times. Jill Schoelen is enjoyable to watch as his stepdaughter, and she does well by maintaining the tension right to the end.

Speaking of the scenes, how about the transitions? One minute, Jerry politely asks Stephanie to improve her behavior in school. Then, all of a sudden, she's wrestling with another girl in art class. Another is when Jerry asked for more ice cream from Stephanie. Out of the blue, he went berserk in the basement. Oh, oh...how about the avenging brother who spent all the time looking for Jerry? After finding him, he's immediately dead. Amazing.

All in all, The Stepfather is the singular representative of the eponymous genre.

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