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The Stepfather

Another example of what not to do.

Premise

The opening sequence established David as the killer of a family. That means the rest of the story had no question as to who and what, but only how and why (with why being secondary). In other words, the main source of mystery and tension was absent. And does a thriller ever work from the point of view of the psycho?

It would have been so simple to structure this like Disturbia, where the story would have been told from the perspective of the stepson who suspects David of being a killer, yet the truth is only revealed in Act 3. Or the opening could have made the deaths seem like an accident and the story could have then focused on David truly struggling to start over.

There are other problems with the movie, yet I won’t bother anymore. (I’m sure the filmmakers realized the other flawz and that’s why there five scenes of the teenage girlfriend in a bikini or underwear.)

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