I have never seen the original "Stepfather" film, so I had no idea what to expect going into this movie. I'm not sure if that helped it our didn't. "Stepfather II" follows a man (Terry O'Quinn) who escapes from his mental institution near Seattle, Washington and assumes the identity of a psychiatrist after murdering an entire family years earlier. He finds a nice home in a Southern California suburb where he meets Carol (Meg Foster), a single mother who sells real estate. While assuming the identity of a man named Dr. Gene Clifford, the two begin to form a relationship, until Carol's ex-husband enters the picture, trying to get together with her again. "Gene" ends up murdering him one night in a violent rage. Matty (Caroline Williams, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2"), Carol's friend, suspects that Gene isn't quite normal, but Carol refuses to identify that there is anything wrong with him. Step-parents and blended families are hard enough to work out - but what about when your step parent is a psychotic murderer?
I've heard a lot of great things about the original "Stepfather" movie and it's supposedly a pretty good horror flick. I came across this film one day and couldn't find the original, so I decided to just watch this film, figuring I wouldn't need to see the original to understand the plot - and I didn't. The film made perfect sense without seeing the original. While it had already been done before in the original movie, the premise is actually quite unique and had the potential to be very scary. Having step-parents and blended families is difficult (I know this from personal experiences), and the idea of a step-parent being a murderer is a great basis for a horror story. You may not always know somebody as well as you think, and that is a classic set up that works effectively here. Sadly though, this film fails to be scary - it's more of a thriller I'd say. The storyline is well written and surprisingly doesn't contain any plot holes (or at least that I picked up on). The pacing is a little bit slow in the beginning of the movie, but it starts to build a little and begins to kick in after awhile as we get to know our psychotic villain a little bit more.
The acting is pretty good as well, not perfect though. Terry O'Quinn is menacing as the diabolical "evil Stepfather" and plays his character well. Meg Foster is the nice single mother, and Caroline Williams (the leading lady from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2") is her somewhat nosy but likable best friend. Again, the acting isn't perfect, but it's good enough. The film is directed by Jeff Burr (who a year later directed "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III") and he is creative with the film. There are some inventive sequences and crafty shots (especially near the end of the film). There isn't too much violence here, a few stabbings and a strangulation - but this is no splatter movie. Another small problem is that the movie ends a little abruptly and I would have liked to see a more dramatic climax, but the ending is passable enough and I must admit that I really like the final shot.
Overall, "Stepfather II" is a decent killer thriller movie. It has a great premise and some sufficient thrills that are worth the time. I haven't seen the original film so I can't compare, but this was an enjoyable late-'80s horror flick that is worth watching if you like this kind of thing. It's about average I'd say (if not a little bit above), so I think I'll rate it just above a five. 5/10.
I've heard a lot of great things about the original "Stepfather" movie and it's supposedly a pretty good horror flick. I came across this film one day and couldn't find the original, so I decided to just watch this film, figuring I wouldn't need to see the original to understand the plot - and I didn't. The film made perfect sense without seeing the original. While it had already been done before in the original movie, the premise is actually quite unique and had the potential to be very scary. Having step-parents and blended families is difficult (I know this from personal experiences), and the idea of a step-parent being a murderer is a great basis for a horror story. You may not always know somebody as well as you think, and that is a classic set up that works effectively here. Sadly though, this film fails to be scary - it's more of a thriller I'd say. The storyline is well written and surprisingly doesn't contain any plot holes (or at least that I picked up on). The pacing is a little bit slow in the beginning of the movie, but it starts to build a little and begins to kick in after awhile as we get to know our psychotic villain a little bit more.
The acting is pretty good as well, not perfect though. Terry O'Quinn is menacing as the diabolical "evil Stepfather" and plays his character well. Meg Foster is the nice single mother, and Caroline Williams (the leading lady from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2") is her somewhat nosy but likable best friend. Again, the acting isn't perfect, but it's good enough. The film is directed by Jeff Burr (who a year later directed "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III") and he is creative with the film. There are some inventive sequences and crafty shots (especially near the end of the film). There isn't too much violence here, a few stabbings and a strangulation - but this is no splatter movie. Another small problem is that the movie ends a little abruptly and I would have liked to see a more dramatic climax, but the ending is passable enough and I must admit that I really like the final shot.
Overall, "Stepfather II" is a decent killer thriller movie. It has a great premise and some sufficient thrills that are worth the time. I haven't seen the original film so I can't compare, but this was an enjoyable late-'80s horror flick that is worth watching if you like this kind of thing. It's about average I'd say (if not a little bit above), so I think I'll rate it just above a five. 5/10.