Years ago during a love affair with bad 80's slashers with multiple sequels I watched the original The Stepfather which was gory and disturbing and blood soaked like many 80's horror flicks. So I was excited to see this remake because I for one love remakes for the most part (Amityville Horror was amazing!) I should have thought more about this and known that walking into the film they would PG the movie and make it so pre-teen friendly that The CW could air it between Gossip Girl and 90210 (I like both those shows by the way.) Horror is toned down and reduced almost entirely to shock value and 'hidden kills.' That much disappoints and requires the entire film to rely on the cast and for the most part that doesn't work very well. The movie is not un-redeemable and has its moments but it loses a lot of ground in the horror genre. Instead it tries to borrow pieces from teeny thriller flicks like Disturbia, and better made remakes like Friday the 13th, and even Halloween which was not great but at least it was gory as anything. Ultimately the remake of The Stepfather ends up as a teen thriller more than a horror.
Gossip Girl alumni Penn Badgley plays the black sheep returning from Military school. Badgley is decent in the leading role but having seen him in Gossip Girl and now this his range as an actor seems pretty limited as he basically plays the same role. I think I expected more from Sela Ward who plays the Mom and unsuspecting victim but she basically turns in a just okay performance. She adds to the "made for TV feel" of the whole thing. Amber Heard plays the eye candy of the film and in that aspect she does very well. Her and Badgley have decent chemistry but her character and performance is rather shallow and she does other than look pretty. Moving on to some stronger players in the film--Jon Tenney plays Badgley's real father who tries desperately to help protect his family including his ex-wife to no avail. Unfortunately Tenney is sparingly used and doesn't get a big role but he does bring some genuine emotion and intensity to the film. And finally the saving grace of the film is the disturbingly twisted performance by Dylan Walsh as The Stepfather. He gives a terrifically two sided performance as the loving doting father and new husband and then the twisted killer in the blink of an eye. One of the best lines in the film as the story unravels is him pausing to ask "Wait...who am I here?" Amazing. He makes an amazing killer to the film.
Like much of the entire cast director Nelson McCormick comes from heavy Television and I always point that out and its not like I hold that against anyone because I love TV including some of the stuff McCormick has directed such as the brilliant Southland, CSI New York, Prison Break etc. but there is a big leap between telling an ongoing story in an hour and telling a complete story in two hours. I felt like perhaps McCormick wasn't given a lot to work with and it almost just seemed like a hobby to all of them rather than a serious attempt at a film (with the exception of Walsh.) The Stepfather was a bit of a cult classic to remake but I still had high expectations and while it isn't a complete mess it isn't made with adults in mind. So the good news is teens can watch it and adults can watch it at the same time but don't expect anything mind blowing. Its sadly subtle and poorly executed. 6/10
Gossip Girl alumni Penn Badgley plays the black sheep returning from Military school. Badgley is decent in the leading role but having seen him in Gossip Girl and now this his range as an actor seems pretty limited as he basically plays the same role. I think I expected more from Sela Ward who plays the Mom and unsuspecting victim but she basically turns in a just okay performance. She adds to the "made for TV feel" of the whole thing. Amber Heard plays the eye candy of the film and in that aspect she does very well. Her and Badgley have decent chemistry but her character and performance is rather shallow and she does other than look pretty. Moving on to some stronger players in the film--Jon Tenney plays Badgley's real father who tries desperately to help protect his family including his ex-wife to no avail. Unfortunately Tenney is sparingly used and doesn't get a big role but he does bring some genuine emotion and intensity to the film. And finally the saving grace of the film is the disturbingly twisted performance by Dylan Walsh as The Stepfather. He gives a terrifically two sided performance as the loving doting father and new husband and then the twisted killer in the blink of an eye. One of the best lines in the film as the story unravels is him pausing to ask "Wait...who am I here?" Amazing. He makes an amazing killer to the film.
Like much of the entire cast director Nelson McCormick comes from heavy Television and I always point that out and its not like I hold that against anyone because I love TV including some of the stuff McCormick has directed such as the brilliant Southland, CSI New York, Prison Break etc. but there is a big leap between telling an ongoing story in an hour and telling a complete story in two hours. I felt like perhaps McCormick wasn't given a lot to work with and it almost just seemed like a hobby to all of them rather than a serious attempt at a film (with the exception of Walsh.) The Stepfather was a bit of a cult classic to remake but I still had high expectations and while it isn't a complete mess it isn't made with adults in mind. So the good news is teens can watch it and adults can watch it at the same time but don't expect anything mind blowing. Its sadly subtle and poorly executed. 6/10