Bunuel1976 Review of Revenge of the Stepford Wives

Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980 TV Movie)

Revenge Of THE STEPFORD WIVES {TV} (Robert Fuest, 1980) **1/2

[6/10 · 12 October 2013]

A lady TV reporter (Sharon Gless) arrives in Stepford to hold a survey on its standing as the perfect American community. The concept of the 'makeover' is curiously (and implausibly) reworked here, events play out more like a straight thriller this time around and the look, as befits its small-screen origins, is even blander than before – if still somewhat surprising given the involvement of such a visual stylist as British director Fuest! Nevertheless, the end result proves reasonably effective, with the climactic uprising – against the returning Patrick O'Neal character from the original (here played by Arthur Hill) – agreeably riffing on "The Island of Dr. Moreau". The oddly battered print (for such a relatively recent movie) I watched not only bore hardcoded Dutch subtitles but also the abysmal and misleading video-generated re-titling of TERROR IN NEW YORK – a remnant of the VHS days that also deceitfully highlights the presence within of Don Johnson (then riding high on the success of TV's Miami VICE) in the role of an initially compliant but eventually rebellious cop on its videotape sleeve!