The Stepfather (2009) starring Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley, Amber Heard, Sherry Stringfield, Paige Turco, Jon Tenney, Nancy Linehan Charles directed by Nelson McCormick Movie Review

The Stepfather (2009)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Dylan Walsh in The Stepfather (2009)

Sleeping with a Killer

David Harris (Dylan Walsh - Just Add Water) is a sociopath, having murdered a family in their home he goes to the bathroom, washes, shaves. Dyes his hair, makes himself something to eat and calmly exits the death and destruction with his packed bags. As it turns out David's modus opernadi is finding single parents and smooth talking his way in to their lives till eventually he kills them. And that is his plans when having moved state he meets single mum of three Susan Harding (Sela Ward - The Guardian) and gets to work being the perfect man. The trouble for David is that Susan's teenage son Michael (Penn Badgley) comes home from military school and becomes suspicious of David, this seemingly perfect guy who is engaged to his mum especially as Susan is blinkered to what everyone else sees.

When I learned that "The Stepfather" starring Dylan Walsh was a remake of a horror movie from 1987 I guess it made me expect more, why else remake a movie especially a horror movie which by the sounds of it was impressive the first time around. Unfortunately what I got was in fairness an entertaining movie but one which was also incredibly ordinary and predictable which made what to me was a fatal mistake by telling us that the character of David Walsh was a killer with a penchant for doing away with families as it is this more than anything which makes "The Stepfather" predictable.

Penn Badgley in The Stepfather (2009)

Now I had better say spoiler alert here but I feel for a movie as obvious as "The Stepfather" it is pointless as you can second guess it. So once Michael comes home he is not happy about this David bloke who is sleeping with his mum in the very next room and who seems like he is the perfect guy and when David slips with saying the wrong name it makes him suspicious. What follows is whilst Michael becomes more suspicious anyone who causes issues from the old lady next door to Susan's ex end up meeting a sudden demise at the hands of the sociopath till eventually even Susan realises she is sleeping with a killer.

Now the likes of Penn Badgley and Sela Ward deliver solid performances of what are in truth extremely ordinary characters. And then there is Amber Heard who is cast as Michael's girlfriend who in truth seems like she has been cast because she looks smoking hot in just about anything be it a bikini in the pool or a loose fitting top. But "The Stepfather" is really all about Dylan Walsh and he delivers a good but not great performance as the Jekyll & Hyde David who can turn on the charm to appear the perfect man but in a split second fix his gaze into a psychotic stare. The trouble is because we already know that David is a dangerous wacko that good acting from Walsh is wasted.

What this all boils down to is that "The Stepfather" is an entertaining movie and much of that is down to the good acting of Dylan Walsh as he conveys his character's Jekyll & Hyde persona. But because of the way "The Stepfather" starts it turns into an incredibly predictable movie which then struggles to thrill and scare because we know too much right away.


LATEST REVIEWS