The Stepfather (1987 film)
Encyclopedia
The Stepfather is a 1987 American thriller film starring Terry O'Quinn
in the title role. It is loosely based on the life of mass murderer John List
, although the plot is more commonly associated with slasher films of the era than a true story. It was directed
by Joseph Ruben
and written
by Donald E. Westlake
, from a story by Westlake, Carolyn Lefcourt and Brian Garfield
.
This film was met with critical acclaim upon its release. The film was also followed by two sequel
s, released in 1989 and 1992 respectively and a remake which was released on October 16, 2009. The film was released on DVD
for the first time in North America
by Shout! Factory
on October 13, 2009. Shout! Factory
released the first-ever Blu-ray version of the film on June 15, 2010.
One year later, Henry (operating under the identity of a mild-mannered real estate agent named Jerry Blake) has married the widow Susan Maine. Jerry's relationship with Susan's teenage daughter Stephanie is strained, as Stephanie is highly suspicious of Jerry, despite his acts of kindness, such as giving her a puppy as a gift. After a session with her psychiatrist Doctor Bondurant, who advises her to give Jerry a chance, Stephanie is driven home by Jerry, who suggests they work together to build a better relationship, also stating that he and Susan hope she will try to be a better student at school, where Stephanie is having trouble.
In Seattle, vigilante drifter, former adventurer and amateur detective James "Jim" Ogilvie, the brother of Jerry's latest victim Vicki and Jill's young uncle, convinces a reporter to run an article about his sister's slayer in the newspaper. While hosting a neighborhood barbecue, Jerry discovers the article and is clearly disturbed by it. Excusing himself from the festivities, Jerry goes into the basement of the house and begins maniacally rambling to himself (possibly recalling memories of his unhappy childhood), unaware that Stephanie is in the basement as well. Discovering his stepdaughter's presence, Jerry brushes off his outbursts by saying he was simply letting off some accumulated stress. Leaving the basement, Stephanie finds the newspaper mentioning Jerry's earlier killings and comes to believe her stepfather is the murderer Henry Morrison mentioned in the article.
Stephanie writes a letter to the newspaper requesting a photo of Henry Morrison; but Jerry finds the photo in the mail and hides it from Stephanie while she is with Dr. Bondurant. After hiding the photo, Jerry thrashes about in the basement and contemplates killing Susan and Stephanie, but is brought to his senses when Susan yells to him, saying that Dr. Bondurant is calling asking to speak to him. Jerry refuses to answer the phone, having Susan tell the doctor that he is out. Curious as to why Jerry is avoiding him, Doctor Bondurant pretends to be a man named Ray Martin and calls Jerry at the real estate agency under the pretense of wanting to buy a house. As Jerry schedules a meeting with Bondurant, Stephanie opens an envelope addressed to her in the mail and finds a fake photo of Henry Morrison that Jerry had planted to protect his identity. Stephanie is tricked into believing her suspicions of Jerry are false.
During his meeting with Bondurant, Jerry becomes increasingly suspicious of the man, who continually questions him about his home life. Realizing Bondurant is not who he says he is, Jerry beats him to death with a wooden board. After discovering Bondurant's identity as his stepdaughter's psychiatrist, Jerry makes Bondurant's death look like an accident, blowing up the doctor's car with his body inside it. The next day, Jerry informs Stephanie of Bondurant's death in an apparent car accident and succeeds in bonding with the mournful Stephanie. Jerry's newfound relationship with his stepdaughter is quickly cut short when he catches Stephanie kissing her boyfriend named Paul Baker, who is also the family friend of the Maines before Jerry came. Jerry's wild accusations of Paul attempting to rape Stephanie result in him getting into an argument with Stephanie and Susan, which results in the former running off. Realizing all hope of having a happy life with Susan and Stephanie has been ruined, Jerry quits his job and creates a new identity for himself as Bill Hoskins, applying for a job as an insurance agent in another town, where he begins to court another widow while planning to get rid of Susan and Stephanie.
Having discovered where Jerry is now living, Jim Ogilvie begins going door to door through town in search of his former brother in-law. After Jim stops by, Susan phones the real estate agency to tell Jerry that someone was looking for him, only to be informed that Jerry had quit several days ago. Confronting Jerry when he returns home, Susan is told by Jerry that there must have been a mix-up. While explaining himself to Susan, Jerry confuses his Jerry Blake identity with the new Bill Hoskins one he had crafted and bashes Susan with the phone before knocking her down the basement stairs after she realizes Stephanie was right about Jerry. Content that Susan is dead, Jerry then sets to kill the family puppy, however, he instead prepares to kill Stephanie when she returns home and begins showering when Jim knocks on the door, having concluded that Jerry is Henry Morrison.
Ambushing Jim when he enters the house after recognizing him, Jerry kills him by stabbing him in the stomach with a knife as Jim pulls out a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .38 Special snubnosed revolver
before attacking Stephanie. Sustaining a wound to the arm when Stephanie stabs him with a piece of glass, Jerry follows his stepdaughter into the attic, where he corners her. Before he can kill Stephanie, Jerry falls through the weak floor of the attic, but recovers from the fall quickly and renews his attack on Stephanie when she tries to escape. Before he can harm Stephanie, Jerry is shot twice by a still living Susan, who had regained consciousness and retrieved Jim's gun. Feebly trying to reclaim his knife after being shot, Jerry is stabbed in the chest by Stephanie, who grabs the knife before he can. Uttering a weak "I love you" to Stephanie, Jerry falls down the stairs, seemingly dead. The film ends with Stephanie cutting down the birdhouse she and Jerry had put up during the brief time they had bonded with one another.
from the Chicago Sun Times gave the movie 2.5 stars, and commented:
On "Combustible Celluloid", the movie ranked 3 out of 4 stars, with reviewer Jeffrey M. Anderson commenting:
For his performance, O'Quinn
was nominated for both a Saturn and an Independent Spirit Award. Director Ruben
was honored with the Critics award at the 1988 Cognac Festival. The film was also nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film at the 1990 Fantasporto
and included in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments on spot #70.
It is also now considered a cult film.
, in 1989. Another sequel, Stepfather III
, was released in 1992.
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
in the title role. It is loosely based on the life of mass murderer John List
John List
John Emil List was an American murderer. On November 9, 1971, he murdered his wife, mother, and three children in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared. He had planned everything so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone noticed that anything was amiss...
, although the plot is more commonly associated with slasher films of the era than a true story. It was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Joseph Ruben
Joseph Ruben
Joseph Paul Ruben is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Movie career:Most of his earlier films are B movies, of which some, such as The Stepfather have become cult classics...
and written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
by Donald E. Westlake
Donald E. Westlake
Donald Edwin Westlake was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres...
, from a story by Westlake, Carolyn Lefcourt and Brian Garfield
Brian Garfield
Brian Francis Wynne Garfield is an American novelist and screenwriter. He wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen and wrote several novels under such pen names as "Frank Wynne" and "'Brian Wynne" before gaining prominence when his book Hopscotch won the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel...
.
This film was met with critical acclaim upon its release. The film was also followed by two sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s, released in 1989 and 1992 respectively and a remake which was released on October 16, 2009. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
for the first time in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
on October 13, 2009. Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
released the first-ever Blu-ray version of the film on June 15, 2010.
Plot
The film opens in a Seattle Bellevue neighborhood with Henry Morrison, a psychotic serial killer and master of disguise, washing blood off himself in a bathroom before shaving his beard, replacing his glasses with contact lens and putting a few of his belongings into a suitcase. After packing his things, Henry leaves through the front door of his house, nonchalantly passing the butchered remains of his family, Vicki, Jill and a grown male relative along with a grown female relative, whom he had earlier murdered. Boarding a ferry, Henry disposes of the suitcase containing the objects from his former life by throwing it into the ocean.One year later, Henry (operating under the identity of a mild-mannered real estate agent named Jerry Blake) has married the widow Susan Maine. Jerry's relationship with Susan's teenage daughter Stephanie is strained, as Stephanie is highly suspicious of Jerry, despite his acts of kindness, such as giving her a puppy as a gift. After a session with her psychiatrist Doctor Bondurant, who advises her to give Jerry a chance, Stephanie is driven home by Jerry, who suggests they work together to build a better relationship, also stating that he and Susan hope she will try to be a better student at school, where Stephanie is having trouble.
In Seattle, vigilante drifter, former adventurer and amateur detective James "Jim" Ogilvie, the brother of Jerry's latest victim Vicki and Jill's young uncle, convinces a reporter to run an article about his sister's slayer in the newspaper. While hosting a neighborhood barbecue, Jerry discovers the article and is clearly disturbed by it. Excusing himself from the festivities, Jerry goes into the basement of the house and begins maniacally rambling to himself (possibly recalling memories of his unhappy childhood), unaware that Stephanie is in the basement as well. Discovering his stepdaughter's presence, Jerry brushes off his outbursts by saying he was simply letting off some accumulated stress. Leaving the basement, Stephanie finds the newspaper mentioning Jerry's earlier killings and comes to believe her stepfather is the murderer Henry Morrison mentioned in the article.
Stephanie writes a letter to the newspaper requesting a photo of Henry Morrison; but Jerry finds the photo in the mail and hides it from Stephanie while she is with Dr. Bondurant. After hiding the photo, Jerry thrashes about in the basement and contemplates killing Susan and Stephanie, but is brought to his senses when Susan yells to him, saying that Dr. Bondurant is calling asking to speak to him. Jerry refuses to answer the phone, having Susan tell the doctor that he is out. Curious as to why Jerry is avoiding him, Doctor Bondurant pretends to be a man named Ray Martin and calls Jerry at the real estate agency under the pretense of wanting to buy a house. As Jerry schedules a meeting with Bondurant, Stephanie opens an envelope addressed to her in the mail and finds a fake photo of Henry Morrison that Jerry had planted to protect his identity. Stephanie is tricked into believing her suspicions of Jerry are false.
During his meeting with Bondurant, Jerry becomes increasingly suspicious of the man, who continually questions him about his home life. Realizing Bondurant is not who he says he is, Jerry beats him to death with a wooden board. After discovering Bondurant's identity as his stepdaughter's psychiatrist, Jerry makes Bondurant's death look like an accident, blowing up the doctor's car with his body inside it. The next day, Jerry informs Stephanie of Bondurant's death in an apparent car accident and succeeds in bonding with the mournful Stephanie. Jerry's newfound relationship with his stepdaughter is quickly cut short when he catches Stephanie kissing her boyfriend named Paul Baker, who is also the family friend of the Maines before Jerry came. Jerry's wild accusations of Paul attempting to rape Stephanie result in him getting into an argument with Stephanie and Susan, which results in the former running off. Realizing all hope of having a happy life with Susan and Stephanie has been ruined, Jerry quits his job and creates a new identity for himself as Bill Hoskins, applying for a job as an insurance agent in another town, where he begins to court another widow while planning to get rid of Susan and Stephanie.
Having discovered where Jerry is now living, Jim Ogilvie begins going door to door through town in search of his former brother in-law. After Jim stops by, Susan phones the real estate agency to tell Jerry that someone was looking for him, only to be informed that Jerry had quit several days ago. Confronting Jerry when he returns home, Susan is told by Jerry that there must have been a mix-up. While explaining himself to Susan, Jerry confuses his Jerry Blake identity with the new Bill Hoskins one he had crafted and bashes Susan with the phone before knocking her down the basement stairs after she realizes Stephanie was right about Jerry. Content that Susan is dead, Jerry then sets to kill the family puppy, however, he instead prepares to kill Stephanie when she returns home and begins showering when Jim knocks on the door, having concluded that Jerry is Henry Morrison.
Ambushing Jim when he enters the house after recognizing him, Jerry kills him by stabbing him in the stomach with a knife as Jim pulls out a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .38 Special snubnosed revolver
Snubnosed revolver
A snubnosed revolver has a barrel length of less than three inches. It was a popular type of firearm with undercover police officers due to its compact size and ease of handling...
before attacking Stephanie. Sustaining a wound to the arm when Stephanie stabs him with a piece of glass, Jerry follows his stepdaughter into the attic, where he corners her. Before he can kill Stephanie, Jerry falls through the weak floor of the attic, but recovers from the fall quickly and renews his attack on Stephanie when she tries to escape. Before he can harm Stephanie, Jerry is shot twice by a still living Susan, who had regained consciousness and retrieved Jim's gun. Feebly trying to reclaim his knife after being shot, Jerry is stabbed in the chest by Stephanie, who grabs the knife before he can. Uttering a weak "I love you" to Stephanie, Jerry falls down the stairs, seemingly dead. The film ends with Stephanie cutting down the birdhouse she and Jerry had put up during the brief time they had bonded with one another.
Cast
- Terry O'QuinnTerry O'QuinnTerry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
as Jerry Blake/Henry Morrison/Bill Hoskins/The Stepfather - Jill SchoelenJill Schoelen-Early life:Schoelen was born in Burbank, California. Her mother is the famous fashion designer Dorothy Schoelen.-Acting career:Schoelen has starred in such movies as D.C...
as Stephanie Maine - Shelley HackShelley HackShelley Marie Hack is an American supermodel, actress, producer, and political & media advisor. Hack is best remembered for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of the ABC Television Drama Charlie's Angels ; replacing the departing Kate Jackson...
as Susan Maine - Charles Lanyer as Dr. A. Bondurant
- Stephen Shellen as James "Jim" Ogilvie
Reception
During its opening weekend, The Stepfather grossed around $260,587; it was released in 148 movie theatres and earned a total domestic gross of $2,488,740. Film critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
from the Chicago Sun Times gave the movie 2.5 stars, and commented:
On "Combustible Celluloid", the movie ranked 3 out of 4 stars, with reviewer Jeffrey M. Anderson commenting:
For his performance, O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
was nominated for both a Saturn and an Independent Spirit Award. Director Ruben
Joseph Ruben
Joseph Paul Ruben is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Movie career:Most of his earlier films are B movies, of which some, such as The Stepfather have become cult classics...
was honored with the Critics award at the 1988 Cognac Festival. The film was also nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film at the 1990 Fantasporto
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
and included in Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments on spot #70.
It is also now considered a cult film.
Sequels
The film was followed by a sequel, Stepfather IIStepfather II
Stepfather II also known as Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy, is a 1989 psychological thriller film directed by Jeff Burr from a screenplay written by John Auerbach...
, in 1989. Another sequel, Stepfather III
Stepfather III
Stepfather III is a 1992 slasher film directed and written by Guy Magar and starring Robert Wightman and Priscilla Barnes...
, was released in 1992.