The Stepfather

"He wanted a perfect family in a perfect town. But they couldn't measure up... Neither could the others..."

Jun 5 1987 R 1h 29m
Horror, Thriller

A seemingly mild mannered man -- who has just murdered his entire family -- quickly adopts a new identity and leaves town. After building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter, he struggles to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.

Plot

A family-values man named Jerry Blake (Terry O'Quinn) marries widows and divorcées with children in search of the perfect family. As soon as his new family members show signs of being human and not robots who will march unquestioningly to his tune, his dreams of domestic bliss begin to crumble, and he kills them. Then he alters his appearance, assumes a new identity, and skips to another town to begin the deadly ritual all over again. He marries Susan Maine (Shelley Hack), who sees him as the ideal surrogate father for her teenage daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen), and he is soon up to his old tricks when she proves to be too much of a troublesome teen to handle.

Written by

Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield, Donald E. Westlake

Directed by

Joseph Ruben

Production Countries

Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom

Production Companies

ITC Entertainment Group

Languages

English

Awards

2 wins & 8 nominations total

Scores
# of Votes
20,620
Average Rating
6.7 out of 10
Metascore
72
Popularity
NA