There’s mayhem all over the place and not a policeman, or much logic, in sight. Watchable nonsense, with performances better than the story deserves.
Comment
12/11/09
The Stepfather (2009)
11
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:55
Fresh:6
Rotten:49
Average Rating:3.4/10
Consensus: This tepid remake of the 1987 cult classic lacks the tension and satirical undercurrents of the original.
Genre: Horror/Suspense
US Box Office: $29,062,561
Synopsis: Michael Harding (Penn Badgley) returns home from military school to find his mother (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know... [More]
Starring: Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley, Amber Heard
Director: Nelson McCormick
Reviews for The Stepfather
Cliché-ridden and full of plot-holes.
12/11/09
Top CriticNot so much a contemporary re-make of Joseph Ruben’s 1987 psychological thriller as a lobotomised bastard step-child: over-plotted, over-long, and stripped of the original’s sharp, satirical subversion of suburban family values.
12/11/09
If the movie’s attic-bound climax is a little predictable and the plot holes rather gaping, The Stepfather, unlike many of its more prestigious A-class competitors, is never less than entertaining.
12/11/09
Top CriticIt's all very silly, but effective popcorn entertainment.
12/11/09
Top CriticNelson McCormick is ridiculously lax with inventive or plausible staging: it’s the kind of movie where a door can’t open without thunderclaps and the bad guy flinging himself into the frame.
12/11/09
Top CriticThe Stepfather is full of unintentional laughs, shameless plot contrivances and cheap scare tactics, but this adds to the fun once you've tapped into the risible nature of the production.
12/11/09
Lazy, predictable and seriously lacking in shocks.
12/11/09
This rehash - toned (and dumbed) down for adolescent audiences by the director responsible for taking the slash out of Prom Night - provides thin gruel.
12/11/09
Mercilessly talky and deathly dull, this bloodless, sex-less misfire plays more like a housewife-baiting telemovie than the taut, teen-centric psycho-thriller it’s supposed to be.
12/11/09
Top CriticMcCormick's lacklustre reboot is just another indistinguishable psycho thriller.
12/11/09
A pointless, dumbed-down remake of a slasher movie of the same name.
12/11/09
Top CriticUninspiring and, crucially, not all that scary. There are no attempts either to explore the killer's motivation and none of the original's black humour.
12/11/09
It has some good moments but there are much better relationships you could be having at the cinema than with The Stepfather.
12/11/09
Fond memories of Joseph Ruben's thrillingly unpleasant B-movie of 1987 will be offended by this bland and almost blood-free remake.
12/11/09
The new version is serviceable, bland and forgettable.
12/11/09
The Stepfather is watchable enough in a good bad movie sort of way but the finale is disappointing and it fails to improve on the original film.
12/11/09
...yet another toothless and entirely needless horror-movie remake.
11/25/09
Astonishingly dull and carefully scrubbed of all but the most sanitized violence in the name of securing a PG-13 rating.
11/03/09
Substitutes an Oedipus complex for sexual menace by replacing the teenage daughter heroine of the earlier film with a hunky military school bad boy, then compounds the mistake with a bad pop/rock soundtrack and a silly action climax...
10/30/09
Latest News for The Stepfather
October 15, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Where the Wild Things Are Is A Wild Rumpus
This week, we've got a wild rumpus (Where the Wild Things Are, starring Max Records and Catherine Keener), a legal skirmish (Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard... More...
October 02, 2009:
New: Brand New Trailer and Poster 
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July 04, 2009:
A killer remake! The Stepfather set visit report.
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June 28, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
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