Michael Harding (Penn Badgely) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand.
Michael Harding (Penn Badgely) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?
A scene in the trailer, in which a buzzsaw swings back and forth a few inches away from a character's face, was cut for pacing reasons, but it had already been used in multiple advertising materials before it was trimmed from the final release. See more »
Goofs
When Michael gets out of the shower, he towels off his head which dries his hair and fluffs it out in all directions. Then he immediately wraps the towel around himself and goes for the door. When he opens the door, his hair is suddenly slicked down in perfect style and dripping water on his face. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Leah:
One female in her late 30s, three minors. Multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma.
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Alternate Versions
Unrated version was released on Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray. See more »
Of all the films to remake The Stepfather (1987) starring the excellent Terry O'Quinn seems like a really peculiar choice.
I personally enjoyed the original and to an extent its two sequels but went into this assuming the worst. I felt like it would miss the point of the original and overly gloss it with Hollywood sparkle.
Well, it's somewhere inbetween. The Stepfather is a bigger budget version of essentially the same tale, but simply not done as well. So it looks all pretty pretty but doesn't have the same impact that Terry O'Quinn provided.
As a thriller this is passable, just try to forget that its a remake and don't compare it to the superior original.
Dylan Walsh is okay in the role and the film also includes a young Amber Heard on the upswing of her career.
Watchable stuff, but it simply didn't need making.
The Good:
Surprisingly excellent soundtrack
Passable performances
The Bad:
The whole thing feels so unnecessary
Not as good as the original
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
We shouldn't live in a world where we need to background check potential partners, but we probably should
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Of all the films to remake The Stepfather (1987) starring the excellent Terry O'Quinn seems like a really peculiar choice.
I personally enjoyed the original and to an extent its two sequels but went into this assuming the worst. I felt like it would miss the point of the original and overly gloss it with Hollywood sparkle.
Well, it's somewhere inbetween. The Stepfather is a bigger budget version of essentially the same tale, but simply not done as well. So it looks all pretty pretty but doesn't have the same impact that Terry O'Quinn provided.
As a thriller this is passable, just try to forget that its a remake and don't compare it to the superior original.
Dylan Walsh is okay in the role and the film also includes a young Amber Heard on the upswing of her career.
Watchable stuff, but it simply didn't need making.
The Good:
Surprisingly excellent soundtrack
Passable performances
The Bad:
The whole thing feels so unnecessary
Not as good as the original
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
We shouldn't live in a world where we need to background check potential partners, but we probably should