The Stepfather (2009)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Nelson McCormick

Writers (WGA):

J.S. Cardone (screenplay)
Donald E. Westlake (earlier screenplay)

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

This fall Daddy's home.

Plot:

Michael returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend. As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. |

Plot Keywords:

Remake | Man Wearing Towel | Horror Movie Remake | Man In Swimsuit | Beautiful Woman

US Showtimes:

Beverly Center Cinemas

1:20pm | 4:00 | 7:15 | 9:50

(personalize)

Cast

Dylan Walsh	...	David Harris
Sela Ward	...	Susan Harding
Penn Badgley	...	Michael Harding
Amber Heard	...	Kelly Porter
Sherry Stringfield	...	Leah
Paige Turco	...	Jackie Kerns
Jon Tenney	...	Jay
Nancy Linehan Charles	...	Mrs. Cutter
Marcuis Harris	...	Detective Shay
Braeden Lemasters	...	Sean Harding
Deirdre Lovejoy	...	Detective Tylar
Skyler Samuels	...	Beth Harding
Blue Deckert	...	Captain Mackie
Jason Wiles	...	Dylan Bennet
Kara Briola	...	Real Estate Assistant

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, mature thematic material and brief sensuality.

Runtime:

USA:101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44268) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Screen Gems

Goofs:

Continuity: Whenever David went down for lemonade and was talking to Kelly, the sweat stain on his shirt disappears.

Quotes:

David Harris: [From Trailer] Who am I here?

Movie Connections:

References "America's Most Wanted" (1988)

Soundtrack:

Secret Things

Cliché and predictable.

I had the opportunity to see this film for free at an advanced screening last week. What I was met with was a poorly constructed and executed film. Fifteen minutes into The Stepfather I was bored and could not wait for the ending credits to roll.

Characters in this movie were poorly thought out and extremely static. The way many of them acted was so unrealistic that it was hard to watch at points. Amber Heard's character was undeveloped and pointless, merely a factor of eye-candy as she was in her underwear or a bikini for 97% of the movie. Even Sela Ward lacked in the acting category in this film.

If the stale characters weren't enough to make you grunt in agony then the plot and atmosphere was. The soundtrack was riddled with horrible music choices that clashed entirely with the mood of the movie. And the plot was extremely predictable and overdone. The Stepfather fully utilized the "dramatic music and close-to-danger" situation that results in nothing but making the viewer think something was going to actually happen.

I knew the rest of the audience attending was in agreement with my opinion of the movie as stupid plot mechanism after stupid plot mechanism continued the "thrilling suspense." People were sarcastically shouting "Oh my god!" and "Come on!" and I couldn't agree more. How many cell phones need to break to put these characters in a state of panic? How many times must the villain magically revive himself after a near-fatal beating? Yawn.

Don't see this movie. It was not worth being free, not worth the time. Best part of the movie for me? The movie theater popcorn.