The Stepfather

Terry O'Quinn plays The Stepfather in this intelligent, unsettling chiller. We'd tell you O'Quinn's character name, but he has so many. You see, O'Quinn has been a stepfather many times over, romancing and marrying widowed women in several different states. After each wedding, everything is blissful ...more

A surprisingly well-crafted and frightening tale unhampered by its B-movie mise-en-scène, The Stepfather manages to upend some established horror-movie conventions as it entertains. Joseph Ruben's loopy direction fits the eerie, slimy feel of the picture perfectly. As the psychopathic titular character, Terry O'Quinn seethes with a duplicitous Norman Bates quality. O'Quinn plays the "sickopath" role to perfection, showing some flair for Jack Nicholson-style dark comedy as well. In its awkward ...more