The Stepfather

Synopsis: When Michael returns home from military he meets his mothers new boyfriend, who he suspects is a serial killer.

Release Date: October 16, 2009     MPAA Rating: PG-13

Genre(s): Horror, Thriller

Film Review

The movie starts and as we all may expect a mystery develops – is he, or isn’t he, a serial killer. Wait though, this movie forgot to do that. Instead it just gives everything away in the first ten minutes. Then it forces you to sit through a multitude of melodramatic family going ons while the stepfather, David (Dylan Walsh), develops more sinister and creepy facial expressions. It is sad to say but the film is more focused on showing the pubescent teenage female body, scantily clad throughout in bikinis, than actually giving the viewer a real story to latch onto.

If the individuals behind the score and soundtrack of this film were trying to drown out the dialogue and make you forget about what is happening on screen they did an incredible job. If they actually believed the music would increase the suspense or give your more insight into character emotion and drive, they failed beyond belief. The music is an incredible distraction and the levels far too high in given scenes. The musical choices are consistently out of place and insignificant in every way. It comes across as more of an excuse to blast emo rock songs than actually try and correlate the music to the action on screen.

To even call any part of this film scary is laughable.

Cast and Crew

• Director(s): Nelson McCormick
• Producer(s): J.S. CardoneDylan Walsh (David Harris)
• Screenwriter(s): Sela Ward (Susan Harding)Penn Badgley (Michael Harding)Amber Heard (Kelly Porter)
• Story: Sherry Stringfield (leah)
• Cast:  Eric L. BeasonPatrick CadySteven J. Jordan
• Editor(s): Lyn Paolo
• Cinematographer: Charlie Clouser
• Production Designer(s):
• Costume Designer: 
• Casting Director(s): Lola Visual Effects
• Music Score: 
• Music Performed By: 
• Country Of Origin: USA