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John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

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John Allman

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Coffin Classics: The Stepfather

Posted Jun 22, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Jun 22, 2010 at 02:53 PM

The Stepfather
Genre: Horror
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
Run time: 89 minutes
Rating: R
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: Of all the iconic Hollywood horror slashers, none seemed more menacing than mawkish family guy Jerry Blake.

Maybe that’s because Jerry, as played by the incomparable Terry O’Quinn, seemed real. He was really fixated on family. He was really creepy in his over-eager, do whatever it takes approach to ingratiating himself into an established home. And he was really scary when his façade cracked and the real monster inside emerged.

Joseph Ruben’s 1987 sleeper sensation “The Stepfather” capitalized on the glut of serialized killers running amok at the multiplex, and went one better. Instead of a drowned special needs kid (Jason Voorhees) or a malevolent misguided youth (Michael Myers) or even a horrifically burned pedophile (Freddy Krueger), Jerry Blake looked just like any old awkward 40-something guy trying desperately to fit in.

By maximizing his minimal approach (outside of the incredibly shocking opening scene, there’s hardly any blood shed for the first 40 minutes), Ruben ratcheted up the tension through small ticks, omissions and admissions where Blake revealed fragments of his fracturing past. He got the name of his daughter wrong. He flipped out in his workshop after reading a news story about a former crime.

By the time he fully shakes off the suburban suit and begins to punish his would-be perfect family for being, well, less than perfect, O’Quinn’s carefully manicured image cracks and comes alive with malice. He’s a gleeful, bloodthirsty executioner who won’t be denied his dream, no matter the cost.

O’Quinn is widely known for being an excellent character actor who typically elevates any ensemble cast. He’s done amazing work on shows like “Millennium” and, most recently, “Lost,” creating a character, John Locke, who will forever be remembered as one of TV’s true originals.

Despite a weak sequel and an incredibly lame 2009 sequel that seemed ignorant to all the wonderful details that made the original such a beloved property, Shout! Factory wisely recognized the need for an updated edition of Ruben’s film and released “The Stepfather” in a special edition Blu-Ray and DVD.

This is one not to be missed.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Shelley Hack, ‘80s hot.
Nudity – No.
Gore – Yes.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – Who am I here?
Buy/Rent – Buy it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Audio commentary with director Joseph Ruben; trailers; an all-new retrospective documentary, “The Stepfather Chronicles.”
Release Date – June 15, 2010