Following up on our look into the 1987 classic, the 2009 remake of The Stepfather swaps out Terry O'Quinn for Dylan Walsh in the lead role. This reimagined entry stands toe-to-toe with the original, delivering a meaner edge and a few more moving parts, and in our opinion, ultimately a showing that’s just as good.
If you missed our take on the original, you can check it out linked at the bottom. Not skipping a beat and mirroring the ‘80s slaughter scene, a family lies butchered, strewn across their home. Walsh, stepping into O’Quinn’s shadow, transforms his appearance in the bathroom after his murderous rampage, sips fresh coffee, and munches on a peanut butter sandwich before leaving the quiet suburban neighborhood in his red Toyota pickup.
Breaking from the ’87 blueprint, the remake adds a glimpse into the gap between his murderous exit and his slick new persona as David Harris. Fresh in town from Portland, he clings to his taste for peanut butter while charming a single mother named Susan (Sela Ward) in a grocery store, and spinning a false tale about his family being killed by a drunk driver. It’s not much, but it’s a nice addition cooked up by screenwriter J.S. Cardone, who perhaps sensed our own curiosity and carved out a scene to bridge what was absent in the original. Teaming with director Nelson McCormick, they spin this new tale with a few new added angles and bring it to life.
They’re something of a dynamic duo with a knack for reanimating horror classics, reuniting after their 2008 Prom Night remake to tackle this one. For this movie, they enlisted then-rising stars Penn Badgley as Michael Harding, known for Gossip Girl at the time, but nowadays you probably recognize him from Netflix’s You. He plays Susan’s older son. His on-screen girlfriend, Kelly Porter, is played by Amber Heard, who was fresh off her role in Seth Rogen’s Pineapple Express.
Fresh out of military school, Michael is positioned to lock horns with David. Engaged and ready to tie the knot with his mother, Susan, David has wormed his way into the family by the time they first meet. Already the stand-in stepfather to Michael’s younger siblings, Sean (Braeden Lemasters) and Beth (Skyler Samuels), he asks Michael to be his best man at the wedding.
The remake’s secret weapon? A family that bites back. Unlike the ’80s deer-in-the-headlights mother and teenage daughter, who felt mostly helpless and subdued at the stepfather’s mercy, this time we get a more dysfunctional family dynamic. With Badgley’s character Michael thrown into the mix, alongside Heard’s Kelly, there’s a stronger sense of resistance and hope than what Jill Schoelen's Stephanie was able to offer in the original.
A nice touch carried over is the stepfather’s basement sanctuary, his little hideaway where his mask of normalcy starts to crack. Outside of our main characters there's a crew of sidekicks —nosy neighbor Mrs. Cutter (Nancy Linehan Charles), sniffing out trouble; Susan’s sister Jackie (Paige Turco), side-eyeing David; his realtor boss, the fuming ex-husband Jay(Jon Tenney) who’s got zero love for the new guy. Meanwhile, Susan’s stuck in la-la land, totally blind to David’s true nature and is always the last to smell the rat.
Pitting the two Stepfathers against each other is a tough call. The ’87 version simmers with a slow burn, while the 2009 remake hits you with a more in-your-face and intense atmosphere. Equally, Dylan Walsh’s portrayal also comes across as more menacing compared to O'Quinn’s.
If you twist our arm, we’d probably lean more towards this version as the victor, as it feels like the stepfather faces more challenges throughout. Additionally, the final third hits harder and delivers a stronger finish. Either way, they are both worth watching.