David Harris might be based on Gerry Blake, the character played by Terry OQuinn in Joseph Rubens original The Stepfather (1987), but its hard to tell. In this PG-13 reboot, he comes across more like the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day pure evil and so indestructible he must be made from liquid metal. When our hero finally confronts David on a rooftop, during a thunderstorm, while Hitchcock knock-off music plays its a reminder of how low-key the original was. Gerry Blake was stabbed and shot and.died. He didnt get up and walk away after being stabbed in the neck, thrown through a wall, tossed off a roof and sent crashing through a greenhouse. He died. He ceased to be. He was bleeding demised. He was an ex-stepfather (until resurrected for the sequel, anyway). Like every other adult in this potboiler, hes a one-dimensional clown capable of being outwitted by a teenager. Moreover, David only has two facial expressions - a fake smile that somehow fools everybody, and a sour snarl that means Duck And Cover so its not really surprising that he becomes a supporting character in his own movie.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
