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One of the most positive statements I can make on 1986's 'The Stepfather' is they give away immediately who the bad guy is. Most of the 1980's thrillers, psycho killers, et al that deal with a "Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde" seemingly nice guy to friends, families, neighbors took way too long for the "secret" to come out when everyone already knew from just the poster outside. I liked that and though it puts more weight on O'Quinn's shoulders to act deep into a psycho's head, he does it with ease, almost perfection. Unfortunately, everyone else acts like cardboard, but that's okay. Same occurrences happened with Kidman in 'To Die For' or Washington in 'Training Day,' both good (not great) films. All movies mentioned had top notch lead performances. (The following would be a spoiler, if it didn't happen 2 minutes into the film) 'Stepfather' begins with O'Quinn's exit of one family (he slaughtered) to another. He wants the perfect family, or, he just simply has his bar raised too high. New stepdaughter is suspicious, and though justified, she's almost annoying throughout. Meanwhile, someone's seeking justice for the most recently slaughtered family. They were lucky to produce this film 23 years ago, because this guy's leaving his trace and DNA everywhere and for the police to just throw their hands up and give up seems ridiculous by today's standards. But, think 1986, think that this was loosely based on a true story (and of course, if he were more careful, it could easily happen again) and you'll enjoy it more. One other thing I loved about O'Quinn's performance was he wasn't 100% nice guy when he was Dr. Jekyll. He was clumsy, forgetful, human. He played the evil-half perfectly as just someone being very ill. But, when that happens, be someplace else.
score 8/10
thesar-2 25 October 2009
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2147118/ |
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19-3-2021 12:05:08