Review of The Stepfather (1987) by Vince F — 03 Jun 2008

Jerry Blake (Terry O'Quinn) has the ideal life: A nice home, wife--Susan Maine (Shelley Hack), and stepdaughter--Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), all which is topped off with a terrier named Randy. Yet he should considering that Jerry has already dispatched several makeshift families throughout his life, which he kills at a drop of a hat as soon as he receives the slightest indication that his newest family's moral fiber is weakening and that the familial bond might be dissipating.

Westlake is a masterful writer who possesses a gift for creating and presenting suspense, who is only rivaled in his potency and consistently by the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. The Stepfather is equal parts character study, satire, and thriller as Westlake begins with one of the more readily disagreeable characters in society: the stepfather.

The only aspect of The Stepfather which is arguably more harrowing than the writing or the acting is O'Quinn's transformations between families as he makes himself literally unrecognizable, the most fascinating of which is his second metamorphosis which we are allowed to witness in that it is so complete, absolute, and convincing that is causes shivers to course down the audience's spine.

The manner in which the writer fleshes out his antagonist is so subtle that the viewer literally dreads upsetting Jerry yet, turning the psychological thumbscrews, once a sentiment is voiced which we anticipate will provoke the serial killer, Westlake permits Jerry to pause as he retains his composure, thus making the figure all the most dominating in his ability to control his urges, ergo allowing his malevolent actions to be all the more intense once they are acted upon.

Even Jerry's lies are so thoroughly premeditated and comprehensive as to alleviate the least chance of error that the viewer needn't resort to suspending disbelief at any time during the film.