Review of Stepfather 2 (1989) by John K — 18 May 2011

Yes I lucked out completely when it came to finding rare Special Edition DVDs of both The Stepfather and Stepfather 2 at two different locations within the same month. Having just come off the original Stepfather film, which I adored, it didn't take me long before I decided to sit down with Part 2.

This one doesn't come close to what I got from the first one but I still enjoyed myself with it in its own approach. This one definitely had more violence than its forefather. However, it wasn't graphic which I appreciated.

The character of the Stepfather also gets a lot more to work with as we see him go through many different shenanigans this time around. It was nice to see his character expand a bit more. He gets a few father/son bonding scenes and deals with a new woman who isn't as perfect as she seems.

The finale was full on suspense and action, which was fun and great ending to this type of flick. I can see my wedding turning out the same way (over the top? meh...). Jeff Burr is a lot more stylish with this entry.

The lighting is colorful and the angles are more whacked. It doesn't have that same, gritty feel as the first but there's no harm done with experimenting. It's good. Terry O'Quinn has a bit more to do here and seems more enthusiastic about ridding peeps here.

He's as epic as ever. Meg Foster has a soft spoken voice and ridiculously hypnotizing eyes. She was excellent in the role. Caroline Williams plays a nosy bitch and I really don't care in spoiling this when I say she dies a great death.

Jonathan Brandis does a great job as the kid. RIP duder. On the downside, the pacing was here and there. When it came to an scenes with the Stepfather it was on but when it was anything to do with the side characters I tended to get bored quickly.

Speaking of which, a lot of the characters were not that likeable and were obviously there to get killed off eventually. Boy, did I love it when they did. Lastly, Stepfather is still cool and all but here he does get shades of the 'Freddy Syndrome' where he yells a lot of one liners ('MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY!' .

..Shut up!) and the rants he has here seem more hilarious than anything. But all in all, I still had a fun time with this one and jacked it up half a star. If you want a true horror classic, see the original Stepfather.

But if you're looking for a fun times fix with some good actors and fun scenarios, this is definitely worth checking out.