Five years after "The Stepfather" was released, Vice President Dan Quayle delivered a speech that codified the term "family values" as a demagogic catchphrase for self-righteous conservatives, in which the spelling-challenged former senator from the Hoosier State, famously criticized a television character's choice to raise a child on her own. While this remake of the Joseph Ruben original is too diffuse, too preoccupied with its teen-centric focus on young love, the satirical possibilities of a man with with a double life who hypocritically promotes the two-parent household, is still there, albeit such ideological strands are never properly developed. Susan Harding(the transcending beauty Sela Ward), a recent divorcee and mother of two, has lesbian friends, a couple played by, incidentally enough, television stalwarts Sherry Stringfield("ER") and Paige Turico("NYPD Blue"). Since David Harris(Dylan Harris), a traditionalist with high moral standards, clearly disapproves of pre-marital sex(the stepfather keeps an eagle-eye on Michael and his girlfriend), the moviegoer would be inclined to think that Susan's friends are sinners in his book, as well. In order to bypass any overt, or even subtle political(and more importantly, religious) undertones, it's never made clear as to how David feels about their "alternative lifestyle". [***SPOILER ALERT***] On the surface, David has to murder one of the lesbians because she knows too much, but in a film conspicuously absent of religion, a baptismal subtext persists itself on the, otherwise, apolitical(and secularized) diegesis, as the woman is drowned by the morally superior father, in a swimming pool. It looks like he's "saving" her.… Expand

Ok, 6 is a tad generous. the thing that really blew me away is dr. house's ex and forever love getting married AGAIN to that stepfather guy. what a hussy. don't tell greggie.

I didn't see the 1987 original, but this version of The Stepfather, although professional in its production, is just another by-the-numbers thriller. (Spoiler Alert coming...) The end leaves you dissatisfied and frustrated too, as the evil protagonist never gets his comeuppance!

What a rush!!!!! Ths movie was so good! I was jumping out of my seat. The buildup to each suspensful moment is perfect. By now, I think we have seen it all as far as predictable plots but this movies does a very good job of surprising you despite having a pretty good idea about what is going on. I give it a 9 because this movie was a thrill ride. Really got my blood pumping for what I thought was going to be another okay movie on a dull Friday night. Definitely worth the $10 bucks.… Expand

The Stepfather is freakin awesome! this movie is a thrill a minute suspense ride from the opening scene up to the final one Dylan Walsh is amazing.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay, so I first saw this on blu-ray, which is unrated. I did not know the theatrical was PG-13. I sort of looking for a bloody slasher film with a psychopathic stepfather, you know, something that excites me on a boring evening. I'm not sure what the differences were between the unrated and PG-13 versions, but no matter how you look at it, this film really doesn't work, despite its great premise (I wasn't aware it was a remake until later). He's supposed to be the guy everybody trusts, your classic closet serial killer who's otherwise normal...well, almost otherwise normal. For a guy who's supposed to be a step ahead of everyone else, it's pretty clear he's not one of the brighter killers to exist. It's like he's asking to be caught, with how he suddenly quits his job because he has to provide identification, murders people who think he's suspicious, and even keeps his **** browser history intact on his computer. Seriously? He doesn't even manage to clear his browser history? Couldn't he have at least made a separate user account on Windows so no one else could see it? But no, he decides to leave his entire web activity available for public eye, which, big surprise, helps a lot in his eventual discovery. The "cell phone with low battery" trick is actually used here, which hasn't been suspenseful for at least a decade. He somehow loses a fight to a teenager who is clearly a worse fighter, tries to cover up his evidence with a lock that someone simply forces open, and lives an open lie that you can't imagine anyone in the movie possibly believes, sans the desperate person he's scheduled to marry. There's really nothing special at all about this film, and its nonsensical premise isn't lived up to in the execution (no pun intended). Plot holes are everywhere, believability is kept to a minimum, the characters aren't anything special, we never learn the bad guy's true motives, everyone in the movie seems to have a serious association problem (considering they dismiss his picture on America's Most Wanted as nothing to worry about, or that he never allows himself to be photographed, or that he refuses to provide proper identification when asked, etc.), and really, the bad guy is just not very smart. Yeah, he tries to be charming like a typical psychopath, but he's not exactly calculated in any way whatsoever. His smarts as a killer end at his ability to fake a smile. Pretty weak film, especially with an antagonist who is an idiot and is wearing a sign on his forehead the whole time saying he's the killer on America's Most Wanted, which is naturally dismissed by every single person except the main protagonist. Yeah, that's weak.… Expand

While I have not seen the original, this movie on its own is not scary, not even very suspenseful. A few scenes showed promise, but everything here seems so cliche'. The acting is solid, and there are a few nice shots, but not enough to push it over being a polished bland film.