The Stepfather (2009)

Michael Harding (Penn Badgely) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand.

Director:

Nelson McCormick

Writers:

J.S. Cardone (screenplay), Donald E. Westlake (earlier screenplay)

Stars:

Penn Badgley, Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dylan Walsh	...	David Harris
Sela Ward	...	Susan Harding
Penn Badgley	...	Michael Harding
Amber Heard	...	Kelly Porter
Sherry Stringfield	...	Leah
Paige Turco	...	Jackie Kerns
Jon Tenney	...	Jay
Nancy Linehan Charles	...	Mrs. Cutter
Marcuis Harris	...	Detective Shay
Braeden Lemasters	...	Sean Harding
Deirdre Lovejoy	...	Detective Tylar
Skyler Samuels	...	Beth Harding
Blue Deckert	...	Captain Mackie
Jason Wiles	...	Dylan Bennet
Kara Ortiz	...	Real Estate Assistant (as Kara Briola)

Storyline

Michael Harding (Penn Badgely) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?

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Plot Keywords:

bikini | ex husband ex wife relationship | abusive stepfather | male bonding | falling through a ceiling | 

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Taglines:

This fall, do you know who your family is?

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, mature thematic material and brief sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dylan Walsh and Jessalyn Gilsig also worked on Nip/Tuck (2003) together.

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Goofs

When Michael gets out of the shower, he towels off his head which dries his hair and fluffs it out in all directions. Then he immediately wraps the towel around himself and goes for the door. When he opens the door, his hair is suddenly slicked down in perfect style and dripping water on his face.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Leah: One female in her late 30s, three minors. Multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma.

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Alternate Versions

Unrated version was released on Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray.

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Connections

References Psycho (1960)

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Soundtracks

Safer When
Written by Ian Blurton and Dean Dallas Bentley
Performed by C'mon
Courtesy of Blown Speaker Records

User Reviews

Poor Remake of a Classic B-Thriller

After killing the whole family in Salt Lake City, the psychopath David Harris (Dylan Walsh) moves to Portland where he approaches to the divorced Susan Harding (Sela Ward) with her son Sean (Braeden Lemasters) and her daughter Beth (Skyler Samuels) in a supermarket. Six months later, David is living with Susan in her suburban house and the couple is planning to get married. When her rebel son Michael (Penn Badgley) returns home from military school, David welcomes Michael and supports him to stay home. But sooner Michael observes that the past of David is absolutely unknown and he suspects that his stepfather might be the missing killer. But neither her girlfriend Kelly Porter (Amber Heard) nor his mother see anything wrong with the stranger.

The 1987 "The Stepfather" is a classic B-thriller, with Terry "John Locke" O'Quinn very convincing in the role of the deranged psychopath. This poor remake is terrible, beginning with the cast of the weirdo Dylan Walsh in the lead role. The transposition of the story from the late 80's to 2009 is absurd since with the present means of communication, the identity of David Harris would never remain unknown with the facility to retrieve his social security number or use of the Internet and software like Photoshop to check his face without beard, especially considering that he is among the ten most wanted criminals in America. The exaggerated use of clichés and the conclusion are awful, and I would like to ask the writers who would survive to a stab in the neck with such piece of glass. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Padrasto" ("The Stepfather")

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Mexico]

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stepfather 4

Filming Locations:

Quality Coffee Shop - 1238 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,581,586, 18 October 2009

Gross USA:

$29,062,561

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,198,531

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems, Maverick Films, Imprint Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1