Rainey Dawn I haven't seen this film in years - I'm glad to get a chance to watch it again. It is a good horror film overall.Terry O'Quinn is fantastic as Jerry Blake - his performance is amazing. He "MADE" this film - and made it scary. This one rates fairly high on my personal scare factor scale. The character Jerry Blake is one twisted, cunning, evil and vile man. This guy is definitely off his rocker - not a man you would ever want to be around.The story is not all that bad, interesting, but this film is worth watching for Terry O'Quinn alone. The rest of the cast is good as well. Generally speaking, horror movie fans should like this film - it is creepy slasher thriller.7/10

zombiefan89 "Terry O'Quinn really does elevate some stupid crap." - to loosely quote Brad Jones, the Cinema Snob. The biggest plot holes in the movie stem from how incompetent the police and media are at finding Jerry Blake! They HAVE his picture! All they had to do was run it in the paper! That's sort of how the serial killer John List (this movie was loosely based on) was finally captured! America's Most Wanted broadcasted his story on TV, which had the same effect. With his picture seen by enough people, he had no where to hide. The sub-plot of the Jerry's dead wife's brother hunting him down could have been dropped completely! Despite all of this, I still give the movie an 8 out of 10 for O'Quinn's performance alone. He's that good!

Toronto85 A serial killer who is in love with the idea of a "perfect family" preys on the Maine family in 'The Stepfather'. The film starts with us seeing Terry Quinn's character changing his appearance and leaving his family home after brutally butchering them. We fast forward some time later to him now going by the name of Jerry Blake, he's got a wife named Susan and is the stepfather to our lead character Stephanie. Stephanie can't stand him and suspects there is more to him than meets the eye. She begins investigating into the murder he committed a year prior, and it isn't long before he catches on. Others begin questioning him as well, and his former brother-in-law from the family he killed is on the hunt for him. With the walls closing in, Jerry beings to crack... and begins to kill.'The Stepfather' is a brilliant late eighties thriller! I first came across it years back when TBS used to show a marathon of the Stepfather series on a regular basis. It's a basic story of a madman, but the performances by the actors involved takes it to another level. Terry Quinn is amazing as the psychotic Jerry Blake, just his mannerisms when he's having his meltdowns are spot on. Jill Schoelen, who became a late eighties scream queen, did a terrific job as the lead female character. And Shelley Hack put in a good performance as Stephanie's mom Susan, the woman he gave into the charms of Jerry. There are some death scenes, some pretty brutal, but the intensity comes from watching Jerry Blake crack under the pressure. Not knowing when he'll snap leaves viewers on the edge of their seats, and when he finally does snap towards the end of the film ... things get scary. Highly recommended.8/10

Horror_Metal Jerry Blake (Terry O'Quinn) is the perfect family man. He's all about the traditional working class "married with children" kind of life. That is, until someone in his family angers him or is basically anything less than perfect. That's when he murders them all, changes his identity, and finds a new family. He's been doing this for quite some time and has gone by many different aliases over the years. His current family consists of his wife Susan (Shelley Hack) and his stepdaughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen). Everything seems to be going well until Stephanie starts dating, then Jerry decides that it's time to take out the knife and dish out his own form of brutal punishment. Then he can simply find another family under a new identity. Unfortunately for the homicidal stepfather, his former brother-in-law Jim Ogilvie (Stephen Shellen) is hot on his trail. Jim seeks revenge against Jerry for killing his sister, and has just bought a gun ready to dish out some punishment of his own! I've always been a huge fan of this great horror film and appreciate its interesting and original premise. How can you not be intrigued by a brilliant but psychotic man who longs for the perfect family and is willing to try again and again until he gets it right? He doesn't just leave them when things go wrong, he kills them. Terry O'Quinn excels in his performance as the maniacal family man and gives a new meaning to the term "home sweet home". Jerry Blake is one of my favorite horror villains in film history and he probably would not have worked with a lesser actor. Jill Schoelen as Stephanie is a great lead character and, although I was somewhat rooting for the stepfather, I really felt for her and wanted her to come out alive at the end. The vengeful former brother-in-law subplot also had me glued to the screen, as it provided a lot of background to the stepfather character. This movie was followed by two sequels. O'Quinn returned for part 2, which was pretty good although it was basically just a rehash which brought nothing new to the table. Part 3 featured a different actor in the stepfather role, which just didn't work for me at all. I would recommend this movie for anyone who appreciates intricate and engaging horror thrillers.