'The Stepfather' review

Dylan Walsh (Credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Sony)

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Michael (Penn Badgley) returns home from military school and finds his mom  (Sela Ward) newly engaged to a mysterious man (Dylan Walsh) who—completely unbeknownst to his new family, of course—has a nasty track record of marrying widows and divorcees and then killing them and their kids. Michael might catch on to the danger a little faster if not for the understandable distraction of his bikini-loving girlfriend (Amber Heard).

The buzz: "The Stepfather" first hit screens in 1987 starring future "Lost" icon Terry O'Quinn. A cult hit, it spawned several low budget sequels. This remake is in the hands of director Nelson McCormick, a TV vet who made his feature directorial debut with the reimagined "Prom Night," a schlocky but efficient teen slasher that was a modest box office success.

The verdict: Thrillers don't exactly thrill when they're this bland. McCormick has crafted a horror remake so undistinguished it makes "Prom Night" look like a masterpiece of transgressive filmmaking. The original "Stepfather" has an enduring reputation thanks to O'Quinn's canny charming/crazy performance, a special blend that an actor as vanilla as Walsh simply can't match. He's in line with the rest of the cast—the closest Badgley comes to a defining character trait is an aversion to shirts, while Ward and Heard aren't asked to do much more than look good (something they pull off with ease despite being capable of far more). The scattered murders are perfunctory and the suspense is nonexistent until a climax as overwrought as it is predictable. We should be at the edge of our seats, but Walsh and Badgley's ultimate face off has all the dramatic force of a grade school playground skirmish.

Did you know? McCormick approached O’Quinn to appear in the remake but the actor—who actually earned an Independent Spirit award nomination for his performance in the original—politely declined.

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