The Stepfather (2009)

This direct-to-video remake of the 1987 film gained pretty negative reviews almost everywhere, but I don't think it's that bad: sure, it's very predictable and it kinda lacks the tension of the original, but it's far better than many other thriller/horror flicks out there. The acting is on point, the technical direction is good and the story flows well resulting to be quite entertaining. Also, the characters are not so obvious: when Dylan Walsh/David snaps while fumbling with knives, he mentions that "boys need to be educated with hits and violence" and he may be alluding to his own twisted education, the origin of his madness. The only true turnoff is the ending: repeating the same scenario of the opening was not a smart move. After all, folks... it's a direct-to-video, one must not expect too much from it.

PROS: I liked the storyline a lot. For a movie like this you'd expect to see a lot of plot holes, but there weren't many. I enjoyed how seamless the story ran together. There wasn't any scene that didn't support the overall purpose of the film. To add on to that, the movie was filled with paranoia. I genuinely didn't expect to be as startled as I was when watching this. The director knew when to kick up the intensity and when to dial it down. That refined quality was nice to experience both as a watcher and as a critic.CONS: The movie falls flat when the movie becomes basic. It's hard to recognize something as a con if it isn't bad, but I also have to realize that it isn't a pro. Some things like that are acting. There were many scenes where the actors really were their character and were very realistic, but there were times where I felt that they were just saying their lines. I was so ticked off at this because every time I started to get into the film the actors just said a line that pulled me right back out. This is the same with the ending. Cliché indeed, but overall just not impactful. This is the ending you'd expect, but it wasn't the ending the film needed.www.chorror.com

A very average thriller that it's very entertaining. Too predictable, unexciting, and banal. No tension, no suspense.Whoever picked out the cast, is clearly not suitable to pick out actors for movies, and should be fired immediately. All wrong. The Mum's plastic nose was very distracting. And the girlfriend? Why was she even necessary? Her stumbling around half-naked in a tiny bikini for most of the movie, without actually adding anything to the story, served no purpose whatsoever. People watch thrillers for suspense; not to see a swimsuit model. The actor playing the troubled son was probably the most miscast actor here. It is hard to imagine someone less convincing than him in this role. The main character - the stepfather - was also miscast. This guy doesn't have what it takes to pass for a psychopath. I wasn't convinced by his acting or intimidated by his character for a second. In a word: an exceptionally lousily-cast movie.Don't even get me started on character development. There was none.The story sounded intriguing enough... but only in theory. It is sad how they took a promising plot and made it into something as flat and boring as this movie turned out to be.Stale, suspense-less, predictable, badly-executed wannabe thriller (read: snorefest). Basically, very average. To say the least. Wouldn't recommend.

Pretty predictable movie. What is frustrating is the lack of common sense the wife has regarding her children. When they mention their dislike for her new husband, their stepfather, she says be happy for her. Always about her. You kind of figure out why her first husband left her.The stepfather walks around with this threatening look on his face with the entire family. That the wife cannot see her obvious miss-match is pretty silly. Actors are attractive, especially the son's girlfriend in her bikinis and underwear, all playing their roles like they were bored with it all. They and the director did the best they could with a re-hash of the original. But the script remains silly and rather stupid.