In one of the creepiest performances of the decade, Terry O’Quinn stars as The Stepfather, a soft-spoken serial killer leaving piles of bodies in his deranged wake, changing identities and wooing women in the search of the perfect all-American family. But when he moves into a new home, his teenage stepdaughter (Jill Schoelen) starts to put together pieces of his mysterious past, and she’ll have to fight to avoid becoming his next victim. Dreamscape director Joseph Ruben helms a script by crime writing legend Donald E. Westlake, perfectly balancing a mix of slasher thrills and psychological chills.
“A cunning, shapely thriller. Goes way beyond the usual scare movie. The horror is there waiting all the time. The excitement here is deep down – and the fun of the movie is deep down too.” – Pauline Kael, The New Yorker
“The Stepfather is an engrossing suspense thriller that refreshingly doesn’t cheat the audience in terms of valid clues and plot twists. O’Quinn gives a measured, effective performance balancing the normalcy and craziness of the character, while Shoelen is powerfully empathetic as the young heroine.” – Variety
“[Terry O’Quinn] is a journeyman actor from TV and many movies, usually in supporting roles, and you may or may not recognize him. What’s clear at once is that he is a strong actor, and given this leading role he brings all kinds of creepy dimensions to it.” – Roger Ebert
Marc Edward Heuck discusses The Stepfather on the New Beverly blog.
