Director
Nelson
McCormick,
who
was
earlier
helming
TV
serials,
entered
the
big
screen
through
the
remake
movie
Prom
Night.
Now,
he
has
come
out
with
another
remake
movie
with
most
of
its
characters
being
the
TV
actors
like
Nip/Tuck's
Walsh,
Gossip
Girl's
Badgley,
series
veteran
Ward,
Damages's
Turco,
The
Closer's
Tenney,
and
ER's
Sherry
Stringfield
(except
Heard).
The
movie
is
nothing
but
a
TV
movie
quality
remake.
Veteran
TV
director
Nelson
McCormick's
The
Stepfather
is
a
remake
of
the
1987
cult
classic,
which
was
directed
Joseph
Ruben.
Donald
E.
Westlake
had
penned
the
original
screenplay
and
Terry
O'Quinn
had
played
the
lead
role
as
a
serial
killer.
Now,
the
remake
features
Dylan
Walsh
and
Sela
Ward
in
lead
roles.
JS
Cardone,
who
had
written
the
script
for
remake
Prom
Night,
has
now
once
again
reworked
the
original
screenplay
for
The
Stepfather.
But
the
script
of
new
Stepfather
is
astonishingly
dull
and
it
is
so
relentlessly
dumbed
down
the
original.
Cardone
has
lifted
many
sequences
from
other
movies.
The
original
movie
has
an
enduring
reputation
as
a
suspense
thriller.
Although
the
remake
is
considered
as
generic
thriller,
it
does
not
provide
thrill
to
the
audiences.
It
is
a
bland
movie.
The
scattered
murders
are
perfunctory
and
the
suspense
is
nonexistent
until
a
climax
as
overwrought
as
it
is
predictable.
There
are
no
surprises
or
revelations,
but
just
the
playing
out
of
the
inevitable
conflict
between
David
and
Michael.
Wayward
teenager
Michael
(Penn
Badgley)
comes
back
home
after
spending
a
year
in
military
boarding
school
to
see
his
mother
Susan
(Sela
Ward)
and
his
insanely
hot
girlfriend
Kelly
(Amber
Heard).
But
he
finds
his
mom
is
engaged
to
a
new
man
called
David
(Dylan
Walsh).
David
goes
out
of
his
way
to
make
Michael
feel
welcome.
But
suspicions
unravel
his
nasty
track
record
of
marrying
widows
and
divorcees
and
then
killing
them
and
their
kids.
NIP/TUCK"s
Dylan
Walsh
is
good
in
the
title
role.
But
he
is
nowhere
near
Terry
O"Quinn
when
compared
to
his
canny
charming/crazy
performance
in
the
original.
Sela
Ward
is
also
pretty
good
as
his
wife
Susan.
The
real
star
here
is
probably
Penn
Badgley
of
Gossip
Girl.
Amber
Heard
fares
better
as
his
insanely
hot
girl
friend.
However,
the
movie
The
Stepfather
utterly
fails
to
create
interest
among
the
audiences
with
its
predictable
screenplay.
It
can
be
a
negligible
horror
film.
Cast:
Dylan
Walsh,
David
Harris,
Sela
Ward,
Susan
Harding,
Penn
Badgley,
Michael
Harding,
Amber
Heard,
Kelly
Porter,
Jon
Tenney,
Jay