 Thanks for checking out this movie review video So this is for the 1987 film the stepfather and if anyone would say to me Hey, do you want to watch a movie about a murderous stepfather? I would say no no I don't that doesn't sound fun. That doesn't sound interesting, but this film honestly I think does kind of the best you could probably imagine with a premise like that honestly it sounds like such a boring premise but the script writing and the Acting and the filmmaking just really came together really makes it a pretty enjoyable film And it's definitely one that I want to revisit because this was the first time I actually saw it and I watched it on Shutter when I'm doing this review. So it was directed by Joseph Rubin who also directed films like sleeping with the enemy The good son and money train. Those were just ones. He's more known for Written by Donald E. Westlake who also wrote scripts for slay ground Stepfather to make room for daddy stepfather three payback. So Put it in the comments. Have you seen the second and third step fathers and is it worth it? I'm assuming probably not but go ahead and let me know I think Terrio Quinn is in the second one, but I don't know about the third one. So yeah, let me know that information So Terrio Quinn actually plays Jerry in this film. He's phenomenal like I mean he is The reason to watch this film. I mean I say that but obviously I just said the script writing is really good The filmmaking is really good but honestly like Terrio Quinn is Amazing like his performance is purely mesmerizing on the screen and I love it And I think that's the main reason that people fall in love with this film is because he is Magnetic on the screen like you cannot look away from his performance. There's so much joy in there Even though he's such a horrible person character wise So Terrio Quinn's been in such films is like silver bullet young guns, which I love young guns Blind fury the rocketeer the cutting edge Tombstone love tombstone and primal fear So he's done a lot a lot more than that and you probably if you don't know him by name You've probably seen him at least from like some sort of TV show here or there. He gets a lot of work It's still working actually So Westlake actually based the character of Stephanie in this film on his actual teenage stepdaughter Who he was kind of having a hard time getting along with so that's where the premise for this script came from is They just the kind of main idea of you know a person comes into the family from outside of it And they feel like an outsider so how much of an outsider are they really and worst-case scenario they are a Grifting murderer who finds an unsuspecting widow and her daughter moves in with them Creates a life and then as soon as there's a little inkling of things not going exactly the way he wants Murders them and then goes to start another life. It's it's a great premise It plays really well So Jill Shulin who actually played Stephanie in this Claim that she had nightmares because of the final scene when she's being chased by Jerry around the film She literally said for weeks. She was having nightmares of Terry O Quinn chasing her Speaks to how into the acting they were how into those roles and probably especially how Into the role Terry Quinn was The original script actually included flashbacks about Jerry's abusive childhood Which are actually supposed to signal how he kind of became a killer now that said I do think it plays better without those scenes in my opinion In fact the very beginning of this is probably the best and I'll talk about I'll talk It's a great way to start the film. I'll talk about that in a second the director This is a really weird situation and messed up the director of photography for this was replaced last minute Because he was arrested For a his role in a domestic dispute So a little close a little too close to the actual material of this film. So that's like that's a weird fact So the opening shot of this is such a 80s clean happy neighborhood a typical You know suburban setting for the 80s then it goes to an unassuming house and then it goes in and you're seeing Jerry in This unassuming house in the bathroom covered in blood looking scruffy and then he kind of methodically and Emotionlessly cleans himself up changes his appearance cuts his hair puts him on contacts to change his eye color, you know all that stuff and You're just kind of like what is going on here and then The big payoff scene which is kind of like whoa like it really hits you at that point I think it's a wonderful way to start things He comes down the stairs and then they kind of pull back and they show in the main room of the house just People murdered and I believe it was just the mother and the daughter in there just blood everywhere Everything's a wreck just the aftermath of what he just did and he just like calmly Coldly just walks right through basically and it's just like well, that's done and this it's so wonderful that this is the way they start the film because it sets up who Jerry is as a character messed up and he has these two modes of like Being outwardly appearing normal But then inwardly being very conflicted basically having two sides because he's nice at certain times and other times He just snaps and goes crazy and then the fact that once he kills He's he's good with it like he feels a calm He feels detached from the whole situation and he's ready to just move on So that's a great reason for it to be set up because you know who Jerry is at that point But it's also a great setup because it comes back in the end when you get the sense that Jerry's basically prepping To do exactly to Susan and Stephanie what he did to those people in the in the opening But I'll talk a little bit more about that when we get to the end of the film But wonderful wonderful way to start Stephanie's leaf fight with her mom early on it does a good job of establishing that there's a very light-hearted Fun close relationship there between Stephanie and Susan which further furthers the the purpose of giving you the idea that He's stepping into Jerry stepping into something that was really good And he's trying to add to it for appearances basically, but really he's gonna tear it apart You immediately see Stephanie as It sorry you immediately see Stephanie is suspicious of Jerry when he gives her the puppy in the beginning and says That's my girl and just the look that she gives him back with that is kind of one of those like if looks could kill type situation so That alone I think kind of plays into the whole step step parent Situation I don't think that's uncommon at least as far as you know TV and movies go You know, I don't have any step parents in my life I don't firsthand know what it's like to be a step parent or have one But based off TV and movies, this is a very typical thing that they show you where there's always that tension There's always that tough tough relationship from the get-go, especially because the child is Not wanting to have some strange random person come into their life And obviously this film just takes those fears to the nth degree by saying yes This is worst case scenario that's going on for Stephanie It appears Jerry is having a hard time keeping his family straight when he actually slips up and calls Stephanie Jill That's at the part where he's showing a family because he's a realtor showing them a house And he's kind of pushing their daughter on a swing And he's talking about his daughter and he says Jill and then he's just like he kind of catches himself at that point So that kind of lays the track for later when he's having a hard time keeping things straight, which is really what Makes Susan catch on to what's actually going on and then finally drives him over the edge and he tries to kill her So yeah, so it's important that they kind of slip that in there as well And that's one of the biggest things about this They did such a good job with developing the story appropriately along the way so that it preps you for what's coming So that there's so many things that you're just like, oh, okay I see why this is happening right now because they already kind of touched on this a little bit earlier So wonderful. I love love great script writing. I Love the shots up the stairs from the basement when Jerry's walking or when he's just standing there and how like that shot Upwards with how dark it is with a little bit of light coming through and like his silhouette. It's so sinister It's so foreboding. It is such a foreshadowing of who he is and who he who he's been who he's going to be It just looks great. I Like how they showed Jerry having emotionless sex and then they cut over to Stephanie on the other side of the wall Which is what it seems is going on, you know, Jerry's having sex with Susan and they're that close-up of his face He looks like he's not enjoying it at all. He's just there to go through the motions And then they go to Stephanie and she's in her room listening to music and the song lyrics say run baby run That is one of those moments of a nod to the audience to say the characters don't know but you know And there is a lot of that type of That type of stuff written into the script executed on screen where it's this nod to the audience and it's those cool moments where as an audience member it makes you feel powerless in the situation because you care about Susan you care about Stephanie and that ups the stakes even more because it gives You these hints of what's coming and you know that there's something sinister behind it You know that there's something more to what Jerry's saying, you know cryptically speaking But the characters don't catch on and it just gets this feeling inside you have just like oh my god If you could only pick up on this so it's great. It really sucks you in that way The film has a lot of events and pieces of dialogue that means something normal to the characters But something different to the audience. Yeah, it's literally what I just talked about. Sorry Jerry's freak out in the basement is great His first freak out that he really has when Stephanie's down there getting the ice It gives you the idea is that he has a portion of himself stuck in his childhood Because he starts yelling about like being a good boy and stuff like that and then he talks about no We're gonna keep this family together basically So he just like flips out so you see like the rage portion of him He's no longer calm and then you just get these glimpses of his childhood And so for that reason I don't think they actually needed what was originally in the script in the beginning of showing parts of Jerry's childhood because They're you're getting those pieces from his freak out and and if you're a student of which most people are You're picking up on that while he's having his breakdown and Stephanie is staring in horror basically It's kind of funny when Jerry when Jerry is flipping out and then he snaps out of it This is another flip-out time. He did he like kind of immediately snaps out of it when Susan yells down that dinner's almost ready So it's it's interesting because it shows you how much in his head He gets and how much he loses control and how much it actually kind of is like an entirely different mode of him and Something needs to happen to get him out of that like hyper focused violent killer mode So another moment of setting it up. Well, I Like how the police officer that Ogilby ends up talking to basically tells him to take matters into his own hand Hands. Well, which is definitely not the type of thing that police officers should say to people But for the purpose of the story Sets things into motion that needed to be set into motion that eventually gets a gun To Susan and Stephanie well to Susan specifically and that's how she's able to end Jerry's life to save Stephanie I would say that there are much less laborious Ways to get the gun to Susan But it is actually kind of interesting because you think the whole portion of Ogo with Ogilby is Going to go a little bit further in the end He ends up not mattering that much and literally the only point of him is to Get a gun to Susan. So in the end it seems kind of dumb But the journey was was interesting enough with him Uh-oh Once the therapist slips up and says my wife You know, he's getting murdered that part where he kind of tries to do some clandestine Sneaking around to ask questions to Jerry while he poses a as a bachelor and then slips up and calls himself a Says he has a wife Yeah, he tries to backpedal out of that but at that point as an audience member you're just like nope You're done. He's killing you. You're you're done So that that's a great moment Jerry happily whist lit by the Jerry happily whistling after blowing up the therapist in his car Just goes to show how murdering makes him feel good. Basically. This drives home that he is cold-blooded that that part of him that is nice and Looking for a family isn't the real part of him. It's it's fake. It's a facade the real part of him Is kept the killer because he's whistling he looks so happy and so upbeat after he murders Which makes him even more scary and chilling as a character After the family fight about Jerry breaking up Stephanie's kiss I love the shot of Jerry's face that's half in the dark and half in the light Which I think is kind of supposed to like symbolize the two sides of him of like the public That's portion of him. That's in the light that looks good and the part that's in the dark that only a very small amount of people see usually just his Victims in essence so or near victims in this case So I just but I just love that shot because he like walks out into the the lawn And then he stops kind of in front of the camera and it's like half light half dark It just looked great and there are a bunch of those and you know to that speaking more to that The directing is really good in this the cinematography is well done Acting is great like technically speaking. It's really good The only thing I didn't really like but I can you know, I can write it off as this is what happened around this time period in 1987 the music's not that great It did kind of sound like a made-for-tv movie of the time not so good score But you know that was kind of the time period It doesn't hold up, but the rest of the film does I think Is Ogilby going to every house in Oak Ridge? That was one of the questions that occurred to me because it literally seemed like Ogilby Was going to every single house knocking on the door and then wanting to see the man of the house Uh, is that what he was doing? I don't know that is a lot of work But I guess he was very committed to catching this dude Jerry changing his appearance and looking for a new job Signals that he's about to kill Stephanie and Susan This makes the intro portion of the film Very important for signaling that to the audience that that is what is coming it ups the stakes It lets people it doesn't just let people know. Oh something is potentially going to go bad It lets the audience members know you already saw exactly where this is headed And that gives you even more dread It makes you even more scared for Susan and Stephanie because you don't just know something bad's going to happen You know exactly what's going to happen and you're thinking there's a high potential possibility That he's also getting away with it because he's been there before He is very cool and calm about this and very calculated because obviously he's already got a new job He's already got a new house. He's already scoped out a new woman and uh with a daughter to move in on He's yeah, he's that guy Great moment when Jerry says next time Jim call before you drop by after he stabbed Ogilby Um, just a great comedic moment, which there weren't very many comedic moments in this film And it didn't actually it didn't feel like it clashed because a lot of the times Injecting comedy into horror like this can kind of feel like a speed bump and it just throws you out of it It just it went in there really well and I I appreciated that it was pretty funny I actually did laugh at that line. I don't laugh at a whole lot And after taking him out Stephanie symbolically tears down the house that Jerry built aka the birdhouse That is a symbolic movement Our symbolic action by Stephanie where she's you know Sawing down that big pole that's holding that birdhouse that was built by Jerry because you see throughout the film Different stages of him actually building that birdhouse And that was his way of kind of building his house in the image He wanted and that is why Stephanie after everything said and done tears it down And you have that final shot of it kind of on its side Partially smashed with their house in the background Really good shot to end it on This film really plays off the you never know who's living next door trope That has been in plenty of horror films, but I think this has done it very very well other really good ones I think are like the burbs That's more more heavy on comedy obviously or summer of 84 on shutter. That's another one that kind of goes into that It's this whole I think that really started in the 80s when There started to be more reporting of like child abductions and stuff like that then people started societally to think Ooh, you really do never really know who's next door to you and apparently actually the premise of The character of Jerry going around and killing families Was rooted in some actual event I think that took place somewhere in New Jersey that Westlake had read about where a man had killed his entire family Um, I didn't really look into many other Aspects of it than that because that's all that's really important. So there's some truth to it But this kind of you know, obviously blows it way out of proportion and takes it somewhere else It also plays on the issue of children not really knowing who's being brought into the family when a parent finds a new partner And that's the thing I was talking about earlier where Naturally, a kid does not want some Stranger literally to them some stranger just coming into their home and then just supposed you're supposed to trust them Um, it's hard to do like trust needs to be earned Comfort needs to be earned And the whole time you're thinking I don't know who this person is. This isn't someone that I grew up with I don't know where they've been who they are as a person how they were raised any of this stuff So it really bottles up all those questions And gives you the worst possible answers You know horror wise in this film and and I think that's why it's pretty pretty smartly written Uh the intros intro Intro's neighborhood and the one in Oak Ridge actually looked the same So take note of that. They really did they set up the street to look exactly the same in the intro neighborhood Where the first murder was and that in Oak Ridge This and Jerry literally changing who he is Uh Gives you the idea of people like this could be anywhere Which helps drive the impact of the terror for this audience Really giving you the idea. Do you know who your neighbor is? Do you know really who that person who just moved in next to you actually is because they could be this person? you know, it really Helps kind of ratchet the anxiety up of not knowing who people really are and you know, think about it Especially nowadays, I'm not trying to like freak people out But nowadays, like you probably don't even really know your neighbors because everyone's so focused on Individuality, especially because technology is very individualized People are usually spending a lot of their time, you know in front of their screens or online Uh doing individual stuff and that's just kind of how we've moved as a society so films like this I think are kind of primed to have more of a comeback right now Because it takes the premise of not knowing who lives next door From a time in the 80s when people actually probably did know who was living next door Bring it to now and you don't like most people actually don't know who lives next door So let's start having more of these types of films and it'll scare people even more because they'd be like Uh, yeah, I really don't know my neighbors. Who are these people? Who's living next door to me right now? I don't know So yeah, I think it's kind of ripe at this moment for that Okay, so out of five stars with half stars in play, you know, this isn't the most phenomenal film. It is really quite solid though. Um I'm between four stars and three and a half stars I'm gonna I'm gonna give it four stars I'm gonna go four stars be and and the main reason that I'm gonna tip it to the four stars I was feeling three and a half coming into this but I'm gonna tip it to four to four Just because it's a premise that sounds stupid It's a premise that sounds boring But the script and the filmmaking and the acting really did come together to make it a story that's actually scary It's actually compelling and the tension in this is great So that's why I'm giving another four star rating. Uh, I know a lot of people have told me you got to check out the step Father and I was like really it just sounds kind of like a dumb premise But I did and I really liked it. So give me your thoughts on it. Do you agree with me? Do you disagree with me? Let's talk about it in the comments I'd love to hear what what everyone has to say about this one or you know, we can just talk about horror stuff in general But regardless, I thank you for checking this out. 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