The new version feels more like a Lifetime movie than something that should get a theatrical release. The characters are all completely generic, from trying-marriage-a-second-time Sela Ward to her eldest son who keeps getting in trouble.
The biggest flaw is a fatal one for thrillers -- despite David Harris (Dylan Walsh) killing a slew of folks to protect the secret that he's a serial killer who's murdered before -- the film's just not scary for most of its length. There's nothing wrong with having a deliberately paced film with a slow build. That is, as long as it's scary once it gets going. But STEPFATHER doesn't. Walsh kills a neighbor, Sela Ward's ex-husband, and Sela's lesbian sister, none of which are particularly terrifying. This is due to a combination of factors -- one, we don't care about the characters, so we're not concerned when they die; and two, the scenes aren't particularly gripping in their shot selection or editing.
The film also misses a big opportunity by having the main character Michael (Penn Badgeley) start off sympathetic to David. Instead, the filmmakers should've opted for troubled Michael coming home from boarding school and immediately being suspicious of his new dad-to-be.
Similarly, Michael's girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard) is the obsessively minded voice of reason, pooh-poohing all of Michael's suspicions. This is fine for a bit, because initially, Michael does seem a little crazy in what he's saying. But eventually, it gets ridiculous when Kelly comes up with every excuse in the book to explain away David's increasinly erratic behavior.
If you're going to remake a film, it has to do something different than the original or there's no reason to produce it in the first place. Here, the only difference is that the new version isn't very good.
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