MOVIE REVIEW : ‘STEPFATHER’ LOVES FAMILY TO DEATH

The best horror movies begin with the simplest of premises--and “The Stepfather” (citywide) has a doozy. What if you found a new face at the head of the dinner table, a stepdad who loved you and--just maybe--wanted to kill you too? That’s the kicker for this eerie new thriller, which sets its vivid (and sometimes violent) case study in madness in the carefully manicured streets of suburbia, as we watch the new pop on the block go careening down the slippery slope of sanity.

As the film opens, it’s easy to understand why Susan Blake (Shelley Hack) is such a contented housewife. Recently widowed, she’s already found a new husband, Jerry (Terry O’Quinn). A genial man who’s landed a steady job as a local realtor, he has the infectious, cornball air of a ‘50s TV dad, always woodworking down in his basement and bringing home treats for Stephanie, Susan’s teen-age daughter (Jill Schoelen).

Of course, we know something about Jerry that his new brood doesn’t. He’s already had a wonderful family in another town. Only when things didn’t turn out quite right, Jerry butchered them all. The police have given up on the case, Jerry’s ex-brother-in-law has trouble picking up his trail and Jerry--a deceptively shrewd psychopath--has neatly covered his tracks. Only Stephanie is suspicious, but everyone views her doubts as a typical case of lurid adolescent fantasies.

Will this unsuspecting family see through Jerry’s placid facade before he strikes again? It’s a wonderful prescription for suspense (and apparently loosely based on a 1971 episode involving a New Jersey insurance broker who vanished after murdering his bedridden wife, elderly mother and three children). Jerry is like the character in Hitchcock’s “Sabotage” who’s unknowingly delivering a package with a bomb in it--except this time the bomb’s ticking away in Jerry’s skull. (In fact, the movie is loaded with visual quotes from Hitchcock thrillers, beginning with a setup reminiscent of “Shadow of a Doubt.”) Donald Westlake, a veteran screenwriter and mystery novelist, and director Joseph Ruben never miss an opportunity to turn up the heat, deftly preying on our deepest fears of a stranger taking our father’s place.

What makes Jerry so scary is his obsessive veneration of family life. Much of the movie’s black humor comes from Jerry’s zeal as a realtor--when he sells houses, he blithely extols the joys of domestic bliss. But his family ties are a madman’s perverse replica of reality, as flimsy as the birdhouse he’s building in his basement. His sunny notion of an adoring family is exactly the vision that his subconscious urges are driving him to destroy.

If you take time to study the story line, it’s obvious that the film makers have fudged a couple of key plot points. But O’Quinn plays Jerry with such marvelously creepy calm that you don’t linger on any of the improbable twists ‘n’ turns. O’Quinn gives Jerry a sinister air of normality--he loves to sit on the edge of his bed, chuckling at reruns of “Mr. Ed.” Occasionally O’Quinn drops his guard, offering us a glimpse of the psychotic electricity rattling around in Jerry’s brain. And that’s what makes “Stepfather” (rated R for scenes of graphic gore) such a gruesome delight. It’s an icy parody of suburban bliss, featuring the kind of proud pop who gets his kicks from loving his family to death.

‘THE STEPFATHER’

A New Century/Vista Film Co. release. Producer Jay Benson. Director Joseph Ruben. Writer Donald E. Westlake. Camera John Lindley. Editor George Bowers. Music Patrick Moraz. Production Design James William Newport. Costume Design Mina Mittelman. With Terry O’Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Charles Lanyer, Stephen Shellen, Stephen E. Miller and Robyn Stevan.

Running time: 1 hour, 28 minutes.

MPAA rating: R (Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian.)