The Stepfather

Update of the 1987 film of the same name, with Walsh taking the title role. Walsh's stepfather is just as charming and just as convincingly psychotic as O'Quinn's was. The film starts out very promising, with a smart story and plenty of scares and creeps; but it begins to deteriorate when the hero (Bagley) is introduced, and who is even more unlikable than the purposely unlikable stepfather. The dark mood continues and the film remains watchable, until the middle of the film has passed and you realize that there's nothing building, only just an approaching climatic sequence which will probably be sudden, dull and disappointing. And as predicted, it is. Like "Disturbia" in a lot of ways, and shares similar pros and cons. Walsh doesn't really escape Dr. McNamara, but the passive-aggressive personality works well in this film. O'Quinn declined a cameo appearance.