Just watch the remake - that one is way better. Saw them both - this one sucks...

Average. Underwhelming. Thriller? More a slasher in thriller clothes. It's not terrible but I think it's overrated. Terry O'Quinn is good but the script doesn't let him shine. Things are relieved in the script in very obvious ways, which is more suitable for dumb horror movies. The charcaters just are not deep enough for this to be a thriller. The idea was great.

The biggest surprise this October. A fun, rewatchable gem of a thriller.

"The Stepfather" is a nice little horror thriller with slasher elements. The premise is quite simple: Terry O'Quinn plays a man who kills in search of the perfect family. If something doesn't fit, he murders his "loved ones" and starts over with a new identity. The film doesn't make a mystery out of this setup. You learn everything you need to know in the atmospheric opening sequence. Nevertheless, the film is suspenseful. This is primarily due to O'Quinn's disturbing and creepy performance.The fact that he gets an adversary with his stepdaughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), with whom you like to sympathize, is also instrumental. Schoelen is excellent in the role, but the other supporting characters are also well cast. The film may not offer much in the way of surprises. But things really pick up when "Jerry's" facade begins to crumble around the halfway point. There isn't much violence, but when there is, it's intense, and it lasts until the satisfying conclusion. "The Stepfather" may not reinvent the wheel. But this intriguing genre flick from the 80s is so entertaining throughout that I can only recommend it.