User Reviews

Revenge of the sequels! "The Stepfather III" is one of the most un necessary sequels on Slasher cinema history. Different villain, but same old clichès. I liked this movie for the wrong reasons. I mean, when you rent/buy this movie you want to have cheap entertainment, or watch some gore. I watched it because it features Prsicila Barnes, and because it's a sequel to a guilty pleasure: The Stepfather.

This movie has the basic plot as the previous movies. But this time our beloved villain meets his match in a physically disabled boy who is smarter than everyone thinks. His hot mom falls in love and eventually marries our villain and you know the rest... Expect some decent death scenes and good acting. This is a perfect example of a regular Slasher flick with drama tones made for T.V. The ending is actually pretty good and it assures that the stepfather won't return.

The highlight of the movie is Priscila Barnes in a steamy sex scene where she wears sexy lingerie. That's it.

This time the Stepfather with a perfect plastic surgery in the face returns with a horrible attitude. The kid gets really annoying at some point but delivers a good role.

You could either watch the movie for Mrs. Barnes or if you love low budget Slashers. I watched it for both reasons.

Stepfather III (also known as "Stepfather 3: Father's Day") is the final installment in the original Stepfather film series (before the 2009 remake). Stepfather 1 and 2 were great thriller/horror/slasher films. They were followed up by, and ended, with this 1992 made-for-television film.

So the story takes place sometime after Stepfather 2. Once again, the Stepfather has escaped from the mental asylum and is wandering alone in a thunderstorm in an eerie opening. He finds a back-alley plastic surgeon and gets him to change his physical appearance (without the use of anesthesia!). The whole opening here is very creepy and deeply unnerving. The creepiest is probably the part where the plastic surgeon berates Stepfather for remaining on his premises during his healing process. Stepfather just evilly glares at him through the bloody bandages while casually sipping a beverage through a straw. When the process is complete and the bandages come off, he murders the plastic surgeon and nine months later has began a new life as a man named Keith Grant, working as a gardener. Soon, he meets a new family and wants them all to himself.....or else!

One of the biggest problems many seem to have with this film is that Terry O'Quinn didn't reprise the iconic role. I do agree to an extent, but personally, I think that Robert Wightman really nailed it. He is kind of more whiney and somewhat childlike that O'Quinn's portrayal (which can mess with the continuity that this is the same character), but it is these antics that truly make Wightman's performance terrifying. Just imagine, a serial killer who is like a big spoiled kid who will snap and kill anyone when things do not go his way. He kind of makes the role his own. And while O'Quinn's portrayal was more akin to that of mass murderer John List (who the stepfather character is based on), Wightman was more of a Ted Bundy lookalike type. A bit of an All-American pretty boy who is a violent killer. I have always liked Wightman, ever since seeing him in The Waltons, and I do miss seeing him in movies and TV shows.

The rest of the cast did a very good job too, and the final ten minutes of the film are truly nail-biting. It was also satisfying seeing The Stepfather finally die for real in such a gory way! ( I won't give away too much, but lets just say he got what he deserved and all of his previous victims finally got justice. A perfect violent end for such a violent and insane P.O.S.)

Really, I have never had a big problem with this film. Yes, sometimes it drags a little, but I am just always entertained by Wightman's performance. It is weird, because I also miss O'Quinn at the same time, and part of me wishes he had have come back. But on the other hand, as I like Wightman, I can't complain in the slightest of the casting replacement.

In short, Stepfather III is a good film and good ending to the trilogy.

5/10

Can you keep a good stepfather down, despite him being shot and stabbed in the heart multiple times? Of course not. That's why even if Terry O'Quinn isn't coming back, his character definitely will in this made for HBO movie.

Yes, Gene Clifford has survived being stabbed with a clawhammer in the heart and went right back into the same mental institution in Puget Sound. And he escapes it all over again, finding a back alley surgeon to change his appearance, all with no anesthesia, before killing that very same doctor.

Oh yeah - now the stepfather is played by Robert Wightman, who is best known for taking over the role of John-Boy Walton from Richard Thomas.

Now, he's Keith Grant, a gardener who dresses up as the Easter Bunny for a church party. There, he meets Christine Davis (Priscilla Barnes from TV's Three's Company) and her son Andy, who has been in a wheelchair since an accident. He even takes care of Christine's psycho ex, Mark, by killing him with a shovel. Once that body is buried in the garden, Keith is free to marry Christine and Andy goes away to stay with his dad, Steve.

It turns out that Christine can't have children any longer, so Keith begins courting another woman, Jennifer (Season Hubley, Vice Squad) and her son Nicholas. His boss totally picks up on this, so that guy has to die.

Andy is back home and he's well versed in true crime. So he starts researching Keith and his history. He's surprised when his new dad misidentifies him as Nicholas, so the typical stepfather behavior has started as he begins forgetting his identity and killing anyone who learns the truth, like that troublemaking priest!

Will the stepfather find true love? Will Andy walk again? Can even the stepfather survive falling into a woodchipper? All of these questions and probably a few more will be answered by the end of this movie.

If you watch this movie without looking at the screen, you may think that Terry O'Quinn is still in it. The voice is very close. But once you watch it, the acting isn't as good. In fact, Wightman is quite wooden, particularly in a sex scene with Barnes where she's sweaty and super into it. I don't mean that as a pun. But sure, you can take it that way.

Andy is also the exact opposite - overacted to the extreme and given to fits of screaming. There's a near hilarious scene where they attempt to play football together that had me laughing in a completely inappropriate way. At least there's plenty of gore to make up for all the cheese.

I am a massive fan of "The Stepfather" (1987). That being said, I didn't expect much from the third instalment, especially since Terry O'Quinn would not be appearing. I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised by how decent a film it actually is. Robert Wightman (The Waltons, Living in Oblivion) stars as stepfather Jerry Blake, now calling himself "Keith Grant" - who also has a new face thanks to some successful back-alley plastic surgery. I was sceptical as first, but it's really quite impressive how Wightman is able to capture the country tone and old fashioned style that was so iconic about Terry O'Quinn's performance. Terry O'Quinn will always be the first and the best, but Wightman still did a damn good job. The beautiful Priscilla Barnes co-stars as the unwitting single mother who becomes the focus of Keith Grant's attention, while John Ingle (From the Office - Robert Dunder) plays the role of the town priest Father Brennan. What can I say? No sequel or remake can come close to the original movie "The Stepfather", but "The Stepfather 3" provides plenty of great entertainment for die-hard fans of the stepfather franchise. So give The Stepfather 3 a chance - he may not be your real Dad, but his parenting style is to die for!

**This review may contain spoilers** Even though this movie is the weakest in the series I would say I walked into this movie with almost no expectations whatsoever and it surprised me. The Stepfather has now gone through plastic surgery and is searching for a new "perfect" family. This felt like a rehash of the first movie since it's almost the same story except for the plastic surgery involved in the plot.

Terry O'Quinn is replaced by Robert Wightman and this is what's probably the biggest problem with the movie. He's nowhere near as good as Terry O'Quinn but he keeps getting better the longer into the movie you get (when he plays the "nice" Stepfather is the weakest part of the movie but when he plays the "evil" Stepfather he does a really great job). The supporting cast is probably the best part of the movie and the actress who carries this movie on her shoulders is Priscilla Barnes, she gives her all in this movie and she does a really great job. Another character I was very fond of was Father Brennan played by John Ingle, he was very likable and funny at times as one of the most down to earth preachers I've seen on film. A surprise for me was the character of Andy portrayed excellent by David Tom (espesially during the more emotional scenes).

The soundtrack is good and you can sort of hear the theme from the previous two films in the series within this theme if you listen very closely.

For a made for TV movie Stepfather 3 was great, even though it's the worst in the series I can recommend it if you enjoyed the first two. 6/10 stars from me.

~Spoiler~

The only thing that worked about Stepfather 2 was Terry O'Quinn. How is a Stepfather movie going to measure up with his absence? The answer: it's not. Stepfather 3 is a horrible attempt to breathe new life into a dated franchise. Once again we're asked to believe that the invincible Stepfather did not die in the finale of Stepfather 2. In fact, he walked away from the incident before the police arrived. No simple disguise will work this time. It's plastic surgery time. This gives the filmmakers an excuse to bring in a different actor. Robert Wightman takes over the Stepfather mantle and I feel bad for the guy. He's doing a very stiff impersonation of O'Quinn the entire run of the movie. Maybe if he had made the character his own, the movie wouldn't have been so horrid. But I doubt it. The only interesting bit in this repetitious story is the balancing act in the 3rd act. The Stepfather is trying to deal with two families at once because he's unsatisfied with his situation. The ending is definitive this time (even moreso than the last two films). The Stepfather is shoved into a wood chipper by the paralyzed boy who has finally overcome his fear of walking (yes, it's as cheesy as you picture). The problem is after 110 minutes, you just don't care. Some mook on the back of the box states "4 stars...undoubtedly one of the best horror films of the decade." How much did it cost to sell your soul?

This sequel features a new actor as Stepfather, and boy, do i miss Terry O'Quinn. To me he was 'The Stepfather'...

In this version Stepfather is a lot younger (with lil help from scalpel) and in one part is dressed as The Easter Bunny....

There are a few interesting moments where his old character emerges, but not an awfully good rendition...( note, unlike some people I don't watch films for sex scenes alone!! )

I watched it cos it was from the Stepfather clan, and I have a thing about the films!! I Love thrillers, and the American dream phenomenon all mixed up in serial killer-all for reason to kill...as a brit, i find it fascinating, yet confusing!! Most of all -lots of fun!!!

Basically I am giving this a six out of ten as a film filler...More of a TV movie...associated recommendations from me would be psycho IV and Halloween III...

....but that's about all I can say, though I have to imagine that most people with an ounce of common sense weren't expecting red carpet material here. I mean, when you have a character tell her wheelchair-bound son to stay in the car and not go anywhere....and it's not intended to be funny or ironic, then I shouldn't have to work too hard to convince you that this one is a turkey, I hope. And, having mentioned the son-this has got to be one of the most annoying child characters I have ever seen! Whiny, disrespectful, and needy, with an incongruous Illinois accent that made me want to climb the wall ("Day-ad" instead of Dad, "hay-ad" instead of had, etc.-agh), the scene where the stepfather is trying to get him to get up out of his chair and walk actually had me rooting for the bad guy to give him a whack upside the head....turns out the little twerp could actually walk the whole time, which I guess was supposed to be some kind of surprise twist at the end-if only the script hadn't given it away. Anyway....back to the movie....poor Robert Wightman-first he is doomed to be The Other John Boy to the excellent Richard Thomas, and then, here again he is unintentionally bested by Thomas, who plays a far more credible bad guy, and would actually have been much more interesting here, if he ever did trash like this. Wightman is inexplicably still speaking his lines using his Richard Thomas/John Boy intonations, which is a bit unsettling, so maybe that's why my thoughts drifted in that direction....One of the blondes from Three's Company stands where she was told to and recites her lines as the female protagonist, and Season Hubley shows up as The Other Woman, for some reason. The guy playing the priest is a ringer for Dabbs Greer, who probably had better sense than to sign on this disaster. Nope, I wouldn't recommend this trope-filled mess unless you really have nothing else to watch-it's full of things we've seen before (plastic surgery to change a villain's appearance, a kid being the only one to see through it, women rushing to marry some stranger they only just met-all it needs is a collie dog to save the day by pulling someone out of a well). Two stars for being mildly amusing.

Distributor: VIDMARK Entertainment

Plot: Even the asylum couldn't keep the Stepfather away from his grisly mission. Now, although his face is surgically changed, his prey is still the same. This time he has found two loving families...and the ideal job---burying things in the earth at Thompson's Nursery. And getting rid of bodies is so easy now---there's a people sized shredder in the potting shed.

Audio/Video: Excellent picture quality from Vidmark.

Extras: Nothing.

Final Thoughts: Stepfather 3 is different from the rest because Terry Quinn is absent. But it is pretty good anyways.

The acting wasn't bad. but I think of the 3 in the series This is was the weakest... It was already established in 1 & 2 the stepfather NEVER set up new family in the same town. So this one made no sense meeting the other woman and her son with plans of moving. In 1 & 2 he never would have his women running into each other...let alone both sons going to same school or church.