The Stepfather

Directed by Nelson McCormick.
2009. Rated PG-13, 101 minutes.
Cast:
Dylan Walsh
Sela Ward
Penn Badgley
Amber Heard
Sherry Stringfield
Paige Turco
Jon Tenney
Nancy Linehan Charles
Braeden Lemasters
Skyler Samuels

Plot: When Michael (Badgley) comes home from military school he finds his mom blindly in love with and ready to marry David (Walsh) whom she met just six months ago. However, there’s something just not right with this guy. A remake of the 1987 movie of the same name.

The Good: The pedal stays to the metal. It throws everything at you, repeatedly. David suddenly appears out of nowhere about a thousand times, always accompanied by a hard note of music. He’s also prone to violence at the drop of a hat which leads to a knock-down drag-out finale. We even get the time-tested cat thrown across the camera to create a jump-scare.

The Bad: The stupidity is unending. The director strikes first by revealing to us at the very beginning what this guy is all about. That’s right, the very first scene is of him leaving behind the family he just murdered. So now, there’s nothing for the movie to build towards. We know how far he’ll go. Second is Sela Ward’s character (Susan), who is a complete numbskull. I kept waiting on someone to tap their knuckles on her head a few times and say “Hello McFly, is anybody home?” The authorities are no better. How this guy hasn’t been caught before Michael meets him is a mystery only explained by poor screenwriting. I could go on about ridiculous plot contrivances, imbecilic dialogue, predictability, etc. but why should I?

The Ugly: Why Jay (Tenney) never picked up Michael.

Recommendation: If you can completely shut your brain down, have at it. Some movies are completely dumb but still fun to watch. This is not one of them. It is painful. You can see everything coming and you roll your eyes when it happens. No, I haven’t seen the original. I may have to. It couldn’t possibly be as bad.

The Opposite View: Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

What the Internet Says: 5.3/10 on imdb.com (6/14/10), 11% on rottentomatoes.com, 33/100 on metacritic.com


MY SCORE: 2/10