Stepfather

Stepfather

Synopsis

David Harris (Dylan Walsh), who is very much a ‘family values’ man, mysteriously comes into the lives of single mothers with children and becomes the dream man they’ve always wanted. When he woos Susan Harding (Sela Ward) and eventually moves in with her family, her teenage son Michael (Penn Badgley) begins to suspect that David is not quite the dream man he pretends to be. Along with his girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard) and Susan’s friends they slowly start to piece together the mystery of the man who is set to become their stepfather, but they may be too late in getting to the truth.

Official Site: www.welcometothefamily.com

Singapore Release Date: 24th December 2009, Thursday

Running Time: 101 minutes

Ratings: G

Genre: Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Cast: Penn Badgley, Dylan Walsh, Amber Heard, Sela Ward

Crew: Director (Nelson McCormick), Producer (Greg Moordian, Mark Morgan), Writers (Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield), Screenplay (Donald E. Westlake, J.S. Cardone), Music (Charlie Clouser), Cinematography (Patrick Cady) and Editing (Eric L. Beason)

The Trailer

The Review

The Stepfather is a remake of an 1987 cult classic by the same name staring Terry O’Quinn, and as always the the original is far better, but nonetheless the remake does has something to offer.

David Harris (Dylan Walsh) starts a new family in another town after his failed attempt to make his previous family work failed.

Sick yes, but that’s the whole attraction of the movie, as much as creepy as it seems, its comforting too knowing you can start all over again from scratch.

It’s not as much of a wreck as some has commented, the film has its moments of suspense and thrills, but the movie at times departs into distracting subplots such as the lesbianism.

An enjoyable thriller, but lacking the subtlety of the original.

The Good

• Good character build-up
• Pretty cast makes up for the boring plot
• Reminds me of disturbia, the tech related scenes are terrific

The Bad

• Some of the scenes are far-fetched
• The remake adds nothing to the original
• For a thriller horror movie, I wasn’t terrified much

Editor’s Ratings