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) |
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?
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")