Movies

Maybe people are expecting more and more from films-its just a movie-its not your life. I thought as something to sit down and watch for a bit it was fair game. I have a technical mind and I always think about how many times they did a certain scene or how many scenes were left on the cutting floor for the finished product. Longer than usual, it was not very bloody which was kind of a relief, and it probably had more in common with the thrillers made in the 1950s, than something out of the modern age. In real life stepfather's can be an unwelcome event, so in that sense this movie taps a vein of something unsettling in the real world. Above average acting helped.

Dylan Walsh is a strong actor, but the material he's been given doesn't help him attempt to go toe to toe with Terry O'Quinn's iconic performance in the original. The stepchild's gender has been switched and Penn Badgley brings a lot of welcome vulnerability to the role while Sela Ward's concerned wife and mother doesn't get as much to do nor does Amber Heard as the concerned girlfriend.The script has more cliches and bad scares than the original which hurts it a lot, but it's entertaining enough if you just want to decompress and watch something that doesn't require you to do much thinking.

I'm pretty sure this movie comes on Lifetime about three times a day. Not that there is anything wrong with re-telling an old story. I loved Christian Bale as Batman. But telling a story again in the same way as I've seen it a million times before? No likey. The biggest problem that I have with this movie is this. If there were no music in the entire movie... it would not have been remotely creepy. The only thing that seems to tip characters off that something may be awry is the ominous music in the background. There was not a single genuinely scary moment. "Oh no, my future step-father is standing in the kitchen! He must be a murderer!" Save your money, turn on Lifetime and watch the man hating gold you're already paying for.