The Stepfather

Year: 2009
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: J.S. Cardone
Genre: Horror: Thriller

I don't know what it was about the 1987 original but I really liked The Stepfather. Because of my enjoyment of that version I was a little apprehensive about giving this movie a view. Either way, I've gone and done it and it wasn't so painful.

This film is very similar to the first. Basically, you've got a man who goes around trying to find his perfect family. He meets divorced women with kids and worms his way in until he can marry them. However, things seem to never exactly work out so he murders them and runs away to find a new family. This is the tale of just one family and it's decent.

 The characters are all decently believable. It's good to see characters actively raising attention about how strange the father is. In many movies, characters just tend to gloss over that stuff (so that the killer can keep on killing). Sometimes it feels like characters are too detective-like but I suppose that's better than simply going with the flow. It creates a "staccato" murdering spree which is neat.

The movie isn't incredible or great or too good but it's okay. Fans of the original might as well see it for better or for worse.

Prom Night

Year: 2008
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: J.S. Cardone
Genre: Horror: Slasher

When I started watching this movie and seeing the basic plot being structured I thought it was not a remake of the 1980's Prom Night. As it turned out, it's not a "remake" at all but a "re-imagining". Honestly though, there are basically no similarities between the two whatsoever. With this being the case they really should have just made an entirely new, not titled "Prom Night" film. However, as seems to be the case in Hollywood, scripts only seem to get optioned if they are an adaptation or remake.

So, with the fact that there is absolutely nothing binding this version to the original I can't compare them. I can say however that this film all by itself is a decent horror romp. It's another PG-13 horror film so you never get to see wounds inflicted directly although you do get surprisingly graphic stabbing sequences (does that make sense?). I guess you might have to watch to see what I mean.

The story focuses on a pretty high school senior. Three years ago she was stalked by one of her teachers and this stalking culminated in him killing her family. Now living with her aunt and uncle it is time for her high school prom - and the murderous teacher just escaped from jail.

It all plays out in a pretty straightforward fashion but I found myself getting very antsy when characters were being stalked. I don't know what caused this. It might have been the movie or it may have just been my mood while watching but it's always fun when a film makes you a little scared. Online it seems the movie is unanimously panned, which seems strange. Unless I've suddenly grown soft I thought this film was acceptable. It's nothing classic or noteworthy but it was an okay way to spend some time. However, I don't generally enjoy films that don't employ empowerment of the lead character at some point so, it definitely loses some points there.

The film also made me question a few things. Like, I was really excited to see a black leading cop character. I'm so used to the typical white tough guy cops/fatherly protectors that it was nicely refreshing. On that same note it made me wonder why the lead wasn't the black teen instead. She was perfectly competent and it's not like the actual lead was all that great anyway (just blonde and blue eyed). I know it's nothing new but it would have been cool if the people who made the film had the same idea as me. The scenes that scared me most were the ones of the supporting gal, not the actual lead girl!

If you ever have the chance to watch Prom Night (either of them) I would suggest the original. While they may be two entirely different films with the same location the 1980 film is infused with much more spirit. Aside from that, it has a Jamie Lee Curtis dance number which is awesome.