Average. Underwhelming. Thriller? More a slasher in thriller clothes. It's not terrible but I think it's overrated.
Terry O'Quinn is good but the script doesn't let him shine. Things are relieved in the script in very obvious ways, which is more suitable for dumb horror movies. The charcaters just are not deep enough for this to be a thriller. The idea was great.

Clearly this is better than the remake. Why? Because its the original. Im saying this without ever having seen the remake.
& I will never watch the remake.
Stephanie the "16 year old" was actually 23/24 when this was filmed. So lowering your rating for a Non underaged tit scene is clearly dumb. Imaging watching Fast Times At Ridgemount High for the first time & giving it a low rating due to Phoebe Cates & Jennifer Jason Leigh getting their tits out for a couple of scenes. Even tho they were 19 & 20 years old when it was filmed.

Just watch the remake - that one is way better. Saw them both - this one sucks...

Best part is when O’Quinn is trying to recall which identity he’s portraying at the moment, followed by a swift slap across his wife’s face with a corded phone :sweat_smile:.

Really not the smartest of plans — start a new family and career within a 60 mile radius of your slaughterhouse, Rinse, repeat, a year later?

"The Stepfather" is a nice little horror thriller with slasher elements. The premise is quite simple: Terry O'Quinn plays a man who kills in search of the perfect family. If something doesn't fit, he murders his "loved ones" and starts over with a new identity. The film doesn't make a mystery out of this setup. You learn everything you need to know in the atmospheric opening sequence.

Nevertheless, the film is suspenseful. This is primarily due to O'Quinn's disturbing and creepy performance.The fact that he gets an adversary with his stepdaughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), with whom you like to sympathize, is also instrumental. Schoelen is excellent in the role, but the other supporting characters are also well cast.

The film may not offer much in the way of surprises. But things really pick up when "Jerry's" facade begins to crumble around the halfway point. There isn't much violence, but when there is, it's intense, and it lasts until the satisfying conclusion.

"The Stepfather" may not reinvent the wheel. But this intriguing genre flick from the 80s is so entertaining throughout that I can only recommend it.