Film Review: THE STEPFATHER (2009)

I probably shouldn’t like this timid remake of a minor horror classic but I actually find little wrong with The Stepfather (2009) probably because I’ve never seen the original film (only its 2 sequels). I am a fan of actor Dylan Walsh having been a huge fan of his television show Nip/Tuck and the film Congo (of which he starred). It is nice to see Walsh expand from those two previously mentioned roles.

The film follows the exploits of a serial killer (Walsh) who marries into a family looking to build the “perfect” family, or the one he pictures in his mind. When it doesn’t work out he kills everyone and then moves on to the next. The film begins with the serial killer now going by the name of David Harris whose new fiancée Susan (Sela Ward) is celebrating the return of her son Michael (Penn Badgley) from military school where he was sent for disciplinary problems. Michael has father issues and immediately takes a disliking to his mother’s new beau. As Michael digs into David’s past he comes closer and closer to proving that this family is anything but perfect and David soon realizes that he might need to cut his losses and move on.
The film as written by J.S. Cardone is very well structured and executed for the first two-thirds as a suspense thriller but falls apart by the end of the film. Cardone does an excellent job keeping the film going by having David dispatch everyone that comes in his way from creating the perfect family but by the time the film winds down to the final act the film never creates any real threat as there is no direct violence of consequences to any of the characters. Even the way in which David is knocked unconscious is timid. The ending is completely predictable and a shame considering everything that preceded it.

Although the film is for the PG-13 audience (who don’t go to horror films that often) as a date film (whom I’m sure the film works for), the film is not for the diehard horror fan as the material is watered down for a specific audience and should not deter others from enjoying the film.