The Stepfather (1987) is a classic 80′s thriller that has aged remarkably well.  I have watched this movie dozens of times and never seem to tire of it!   Terry O’Quinn is brilliant as a seemingly normal and likable guy who charms his way into one family after another only to murder them when his perfect expectations are not met.  The first scene of the film shows him dripping with blood and staring at his reflexion in the bathroom mirror.  He proceeds to calmly shower, shave (to alter his appearance) and leaves happily whistling Camp-town Races.  

 He then becomes Jerry Blake, a squeaky clean sweater vest wearing real estate agent with a set of old fashioned family values that probably only existed in a 1950′s TV show.  He is  now married to Susan (Shelley Hack), and is stepfather to her teenage daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen).  Like a true predator Jerry is very charming and everybody, except Stephanie, seems to adore him.  Stephanie just can’t bring herself to like Jerry.  She is convinced he is hiding something.  Granted, Jerry does have crazy angry fits of rage when he thinks he’s alone in the basement but he pretty much keeps it together otherwise.  Besides, whose going to listen to all around troubled teen Stephanie?  She has been expelled from school for fighting, and sees a therapist regularly because of the recent death of the real father.  Eventually, her therapist  is convinced that she really is afraid of Jerry.  This of course leads to the mysterious death of Stephanie’s therapist.  At one point in the film Jerry and Stephanie start getting along really well and you want Jerry to finally be happy even though you know it won’t last.  

The Stepfather provides us with a fascinating killer.  A killer that takes so much time to gain the love and trust of his next victims.  It isn’t clear whether Jerry expects his families to disappoint him or not.  He is only in love with the idea of family and being a happy family man.  The individual members of each family are completely disposable when it becomes time to move on.  I wonder if The Stepfather is loosely based on a real incident? What really makes this film work for me is the time period.  Before the internet or America’s Most Wanted it seems possible for a man like Jerry to really exist.