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Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Stephen Shellen, Charles Lanyer ... see more see more... , Gillian Barber , Paul Batten , Lindsay Bourne , Jackson Davies , Rochelle Greenwood , Anna Hagan , Gary Hetherington , Don MacKay , Blu Mankuma , Gabrielle Rose , Jeff Schultz , Robyn Stevan , Don Williams , Dale Wilson , Stephen E. Miller , Sandra Head , Sheila Paterson , Don S. Sargent , Andrew Snider , Marie Stillin

Terry O'Quinn plays The Stepfather in this intelligent, unsettling chiller. We'd tell you O'Quinn's character name, but he has so many. You see, O'Quinn has been a stepfather many times over, romancin... read more read more...g and marrying widowed women in several different states. After each wedding, everything is blissful -- at least, until O'Quinn's new wife and kids fail to measure up to his notions of perfection. Then he kills them en masse, and moves on to his next victims. Shelley Hack and Jill Schoelen co-star as O'Quinn's latest wife and stepdaughter, who prove to be yet another disappointment to him. An adroit witches' blend of Ozzie & Harriet and Psycho, The Stepfather was scripted by suspense veteran Donald E. Westlake. A lesser sequel, Stepfather 2, followed in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

65% liked it

2,850 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

28 critics

R, 1 hr. 29 min.

Directed by: Joseph Ruben

Release Date: January 23, 1987

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DVD Release Date: February 9, 2010

Stats: 318 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (318)

  • superclerk25
    February 20, 2011
    superclerk25
    While it plays like a normal lower budget 80's thriller / horror flick the awesome Terry O'Quinn elevates the movie for me. He the perfect blend of loving husband and father mixed with psychopath. His ability to turn it off and on puts him above the rest of the cast.
    The movie ... read moreis also darker than I remember it being which also sets it apart from other films like it of the decade.
  • ajv2688
    February 4, 2011
    ajv2688
    This is a very realistic and scary horror movie, more of a horror drama, I'd say. Plus, I heard it was based on a true story, which makes sense because it's so realistic. It's a family's worst nightmare, if you love horror movies, you should see this.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 8, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Average horror film portraying yet another serial killer. The Stepfather is a suspenseful, creepy and compelling film. The Stepfather is a film that really goes at the heart of terror as Terry O'Quinn's character murders a fatherless family before finding new families to prey. An... read more average horror film, The Stepfather is a pretty good, thrilling film with a pretty good villain, also the film is tense and creepy.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 11, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    A Brilliant Classic.
  • ythelastman89
    November 18, 2009
    ythelastman89
    If it wasn't for Terry O'Quinn, this would've been horrible. He can literally make anything sound creepy. The other actors are just bland and the production value made it feel like a made for tv movie. The story is really interesting and creepy, but the way it was written and pla... read moreyed out was sub-par. It just came off as another countless slasher, which is really sad. I wanted to like it, but in the end it was just unmemorable.
  • creepfreak
    May 24, 2008
    creepfreak
    This film is actually based on the true story of mass murderer John List...

    The Real Crime:

    "List killed his family - his wife, Helen, 45; his children, Patricia, 16, John, Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13, as well as his 84-year-old mother, Alma. He first shot his wife in the ba... read moreck of the head and his mother once in the left eye that morning while the children were at school. When Patricia and Frederick came back home, they were each murdered in the same way. John Jr., the only remaining son, was at his soccer game that afternoon. List casually made himself lunch and then drove to watch John Jr. at his soccer game. He brought his son home and then shot John Jr. once in the back of the head. John List saw John, Jr. twitch as if he was having a seizure, and shot his son again. It was later determined that John had shot his older son ten times. List dragged the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags into the ballroom of the house. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic and stated in a postscript in the letter to his pastor that "Mother is in the attic. She was too heavy to move." In the letter, List claimed he prayed over them before going on the run. The bodies were not discovered for a month, due to the Lists keeping to themselves; List had also left notes for the children's schools and part-time jobs stating that the family would be in North Carolina for several weeks, and had gone to the post office to stop the family's incoming mail.

    The case quickly became the second most infamous crime in New Jersey history, surpassed only by the legendary kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh Baby. A nationwide manhunt was launched. The police checked out hundreds of leads without results."

    Photobucket
    John List

    Photobucket
    John List and his family

    Hard to find DVD. Not officially released as of yet, but you can still find all region copies many places online, or even just the VHS. Try to get your hands on this movie, it's good stuff.

    An excellent thriller/horror from the 80's that relies mostly on character development and storyline to creep us out, other then just violence and gore. This one's another hidden gem from the 80's that definitely needs to be seen, especially if you're a true horror fan. Terry O'Quinn truly displays a horror show of creepy proportions through his demented character. Very well done and superbly acted.

    "Jerry Blake is a severely mentally disturbed man whose entire adult life revolves around his quest to have the perfect family. As a child, he was traumatized by being constantly exposed to idealized versions of the American family, while at the same time being forced to cope with his own, unsavory family. One day, when he realizes that his own family is turning into the family in which he grew up, and he faces becoming his own father, he murders his entire family, moves to another state, and marries a widow whose daughter distrusts Blake from the beginning and slowly begins to learn the truth about her stepfather's past."

    Typical 80's horror cheese in some parts, but never gets dull for a single moment, and not as cheesy as most horror films of it's time. Extremely entertaining movie and a must see!

    Highly recommended!


    Other Reviews:

    "This is a classic late 80's slasher/thriller and features many truly excellent things."
    - Slasherpool

    "Tight tight tight. This movie is a great nail biter and an interesting character study."
    - Arrow in the Head

    "An engrossing suspense thriller that refreshingly doesn't cheat the audience in terms of valid clues and plot twists."
    - Variety

    "It was perhaps the most scintillating of the new breed of psycho films to emerge during this time and one of the finest psycho-thrillers to emerge since indeed Alfred Hitchcock turned showering into a blood sport."
    - The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

    "...[Terry O'Quinn's character] is so complete, absolute, and convincing that is causes shivers to course down the audience's spine."
    - The Horror Review

    ""The Stepfather" is very effective in presenting that character."
    - Roger Ebert

    Photobucket
  • deano
    January 27, 2008
    deano
    Great thriller of a chiller of a stepfather who's a raving maniac.
  • xxdebxx
    July 31, 2010
    xxdebxx
    I thought Terry O'Quinn give a great performance was Jerry Blake and was convincingly creepy and frightening as an obsessive guy who wants the perfect family and will do anything to keep it that way.... anything. Jill Schoelen also gave a good performance as the clever daughter w... read moreho won't let her mother die in the hands of her wicked stepfather. There are many memorable scenes including one where the demonic Blake bursts through a mirror and another involving the telephone.
  • sayers1977
    May 28, 2012
    sayers1977
    An 80's slasher that is surprisingly restrained until the end. O'Quinn is brilliant in the title role and if you're only familiar with him in 'Lost' then it's definitely worth checking out his performance here. The rest of the cast are so so and there are some silly plot issues a... read morelong the way but whenever O'Quinn's on screen you forgive the film anything. Great creepy opening scene and violent murder in a show house. An enjoyable 80's movie.
  • irisheyes686
    June 14, 2010
    irisheyes686
    Slightly better than the first one, but the horrible music throughout was pretty ridiculous :P

View All The Stepfather Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
September 24, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

An engrossing suspense thriller that refreshingly doesn't cheat the audience in terms of valid clues and plot twists. Full Review

Janet Maslin
August 30, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Too often disappointingly thin. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

While I was watching the film, I was distracted by elements of the Idiot Plot Syndrome -- moments when only an idiot would have made such obvious mistakes. Full Review

Pat Graham
January 1, 2000
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader

The styling is never less than assured, and [director] Ruben knows how to put bland, unruffled surfaces to sinister Hitchcockian uses. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

May be the best movie about the breakup of a family since Shoot the Moon. Full Review

Kevin Carr
June 27, 2011
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

The key to this movie is O'Quinn as the title character. He's a scary bastard, and as an actor he commits to the role. Full Review

John Beifuss
February 11, 2011
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The Stepfather works for American Eagle Realty, and the company logo pegs him as both a patriot and a predator. 'It's like living with Ward Cleaver,' his stepdaughter complains, not knowing that the '... Full Review

David Nusair
November 25, 2009
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

...ultimately manages to overcome its almost aggressively uneven atmosphere to establish itself as a solid little '80s thriller. Full Review

Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton
October 16, 2009
Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton, Dread Central

The Stepfather is the full package: fast-paced, well-acted, suspenseful and brimming with bursts of nasty violence. Full Review

Nick Schager
January 15, 2008
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Ruben's surprisingly resonant and durable tale ... cannily reflects, in a larger way, the era of its creation Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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The Stepfather Trivia

  • In 1992s "Radio Flyer" starring Elijah Wood ... What name did he and his little brother call their abusive stepfather Because thats what he liked to be called?  Answer »
  • "Two young brothers are living with an abusive stepfather. The younger brother comes up with a way to escape his abuse at the end." Is a plotline from which film?  Answer »
  • What actress played the mom in the cult-classic horror film "The Stepfather"?  Answer »
  • She/He is the partner of Goldie Hawn; and Stepfather of Kate Hudson.  Answer »
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