The Stepfather

19871987
RR
1h 29m

The Stepfather (1987)

Trailer for The Stepfather

Play trailer1:21

Horror Thriller

After murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.After murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.After murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.

Director
- Joseph Ruben
Writers
- Carolyn Lefcourt(story)
- Brian Garfield(story)
- Donald E. Westlake(story)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 8 nominations

Videos5

The Stepfather

The Stepfather

Featurette 2:52

The Stepfather

The Stepfather

The Stepfather

The Stepfather (1987)

The Stepfather (1987)

Al Pacino, Linda Fiorentino, Jack Lemmon, and Terry O'Quinn in The Stepfather (1987)

The Stepfather (1987)

The Stepfather (1987)

The Stepfather (1987)

Terry O'Quinn in The Stepfather (1987)

Jill Schoelen in The Stepfather (1987)

Jill Schoelen in The Stepfather (1987)

Stephen Shellen and Marie Stillin in The Stepfather (1987)

Paul Batten and Marie Stillin in The Stepfather (1987)

Sandra Head in The Stepfather (1987)

Director
- Joseph Ruben
Writers
- Carolyn Lefcourt(story)
- Brian Garfield(story)
- Donald E. Westlake(story) (screenplay)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy

5.7

Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy

Stepfather 3

4.7

The Stepfather

5.6

When a Stranger Calls

6.4

When a Stranger Calls

The Stepfather

7.4

April Fool's Day

6.2

April Fool's Day

Alice, Sweet Alice

6.5

Alice, Sweet Alice

My Bloody Valentine

6.3

My Bloody Valentine

Basket Case

6.2

Black Christmas

7.2

Black Christmas

Motel Hell

6.0

Intruder

6.3

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. —alfiehitchie

fake identity serial killer murder of family shower male rear nudity 251 more

Trivia
Jill Schoelen claimed that she was so disturbed from filming the violent final act, she had recurring nightmares for a week about being chased by Terry O'Quinn. These nightmares occurred as a re-enactment of the scene she was filming at the time.

Goofs
When Jerry is trying to beat down the bathroom door to attack Stephanie, the mirror on the inside of the bathroom door breaks as Jerry is beating on the door from the outside. As Jerry finally breaks through the door, the mirror is show again, intact, before shattering a second time.

Quotes
Jerry Blake: Wait a minute, who am I here?
Sue: Jerry?
Jerry Blake: That's right. Jerry Blake. Thanks, honey.

Connections
Featured in At the Movies: The Stepfather/Duet for One/Wanted: Dead or Alive/Hoosiers (1987)

Soundtracks
Run Between the Raindrops
(1985)
Performed by Pat Benatar
Music and Lyrics by Myron Grombacher (as M. Grombacher) and Neil Giraldo (as N. Geraldo)
Published by Tyreach Music/Neil Geraldo Music Co./Rare Blue Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Chrysalis Records, Inc.

Top review

9/10

First-rate thriller

Nice guy (Terry O'Quinn) gets married to lovely wife (Shelley Hack) and her rebellious daughter (Jill Schoelen). He wants his family to be like "The Brady Bunch" or "Father Knows Best". However when his family doesn't live up to his expectations he brutally kills them, changes his identity and moves on to find another unmarried woman with kids. And he's getting tired of Hack and Schoelen...

Exceptional thriller. O'Quinn gives a top-notch performance as the killer. He's helped by a very intricate script. Those two combined make you understand why he kills and plays with your emotions--I found myself actually liking the guy (for a while). There isn't a lot of violence in this, but when it appears it's very sudden, extremely bloody and shocking.

The only liabilities here are Hack and Schoelen--they're pretty bad in their roles. But O'Quinn and the script more than make up for them.

A sadly forgotten thriller from the late 80s. Well worth catching.

helpful•29

4

preppy-3
Oct 10, 2002

Release date
- June 5, 1987 (United States)
Countries of origin
Language
- English
Also known as
- Stepfather I
Filming locations
- Kerrisdale, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Production company
- Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Gross US & Canada
- $2,488,740
Opening weekend US & Canada
- $260,587
- Jan 25, 1987
Gross worldwide
- $2,488,740

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
1 hour 29 minutes
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Ultra Stereo
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

Rushes: Venice Lineup, Paul Schrader's "The Card Counter" Trailer, Garrett Bradley x Octavia Butler

Rushes: Venice Lineup, Paul Schrader's "The Card Counter" Trailer, Garrett Bradley x Octavia Butler

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The Stepfather (1987)

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