Review of The Stepfather

I enjoyed The Stepfather, it was suspenseful and got the job done for me, but it is by no means any classic, by any stretch of the imagination. Terry O'Quinn is honestly the major reason to see this, his performance has to rank as one of the all time best as far as Horror performances are concerned. It does a great job of building up the mother and daughter|wonderfully played by Jill Schoelen| and especially building up the suspense, it was very well done. One of the benefits the original holds over the average remake is, it's not PG and doesn't hold back on the violence. There are some very gruesome images here, and while not overly gory it still hits home. I didn't care for the subplot of Stephen Shellen's character who was after Jerry due to him killing his sister, it dragged and I didn't like it at all. The most effective relationship is between The Stepfather and The Daughter by far. It was creepy and sent a couple of chills down my spine on a couple of occasions.

Performances. Terry O'Quinn should be inserted into the Horror Hall of Fame for his frightening portrayal here. He is this movie, and he has a perfect blend of instability and normality, his split personality routine was just great. Jill Schoelen often gets criticized for her performance, but I thought she was terrific. She was easy on the eyes, and she gave a very effective vulnerable performance. Shelley Hack is OK but definitely had her off moments as The Mother.

Bottom line. It's not a classic like many say, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. I'll definitely be watching this one again, it'll do the job for needed thrills.

7/10