Daily Horror Scavenger Hunt 2

28. part 2 of a series with at least 3

Ok so I dont enjoy this one quite as much as the first, but it’s still pretty damn fun! I think these movies are so predictable because there have been so many imitators since the original release. The Sitter, The Crush, The Boy Next Door, The Brother-In-Law, The Third Cousin’s Neighbor One Street Over, etc. but this one keeps things lively enough to stand out and that’s mainly due to the performances by Terry O’Quinn and Meg Foster’s eyes and they are the greatest eyes of all time. All. Time.

The scene where Meg and her son walk into her own wedding covered in blood is not only my supreme aesthetic but also everything I love about cinema.

Bananameter: 🍌 make room for daddy indeed 🍌

The capitalist idea of a family is a unit of control and profit rather than a loving interconnected and related community designed to nourish and protect, so anything that takes the stereotypical role of the father and presents it as menacing is tapping into the sense that I imagine most of us have that the family unit as we know it is unnatural, violent, and oppressive. The potential violence under the surface of the stepfather, the explosion-in-waiting infuses every scene with the promise of the fist, the knife, the shout, the grab, the hammer. The deconstruction of the 1950s illusion of the nuclear family is hit over the head in the "make room for daddy" scene, but they manage to make their point plain just in the way he looks at women. They are nothing but props for him in his twisted fantasy of the provider.

I'm quite surprised that I never watched this sequel as a kid, especially considering my love of horror films and Jonathan Brandis. Not to mention the inclusion of Meg Foster and Caroline Williams rounding out the cast of genre-regulars.

Terry O'Quinn is easily the best thing about these movies as he not only looks like a stepfather but crazed lunatic suits him nicely. That's why I'm a bit bummed out to read that he won't be continuing in the final film, Stepfather 3. In the next film he is replaced by Robert Wightman. I can't say I'm in a hurry to watch it, although I've heard that there is a bit more blood which may satiate this beast.

The part of the movie that scared me the most was (and will always be) Meg Foster's eyes.

If you saw the original, there will be very few surprises here. It’s almost the exact same formula, with crazy O’Quinn working his way into the life of another single mother and her only child. Despite the relative predictability of it, it’s hard not to love. More over-the-top performances, O’Quinn's mastery of playing good guy dad and homicidal maniac, and the nosy people who figure him out and pay the consequences. They’re all here!

It’s a good time for fans of the first and first-timers alike. The only problem I have with it is that now I’ve got “Camptown Races” stuck in my head and I feel a bit on edge...

Part of Hooptober 2020. Full listing here

Still pretty dope and not much of a STEP down from the first, Caroline Williams sort of STEPS in for Jill Schoelen's character, and Terry O'Quinn rules these flicks to the extent you'd ALMOST start feeling sorry for his character if he wasn't the poster child for patriarchal toxicity. At the same time feels like a more expensive movie because of some neat visual stuff and a less damning score than the first, but it's also sleazier and slashier making it feel cheaper; though not in a bad way!

From Mr. Sequel Jeff Burr (Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Pumpkinhead 2, Puppet Master 4 and 5) Terry O'Quinn returns again as the stepfather. He escapes from an insane asylum (that allows him to work with a table saw??) to find another single woman and boy that he can attempt to make his new family. With some recognizable faces such as Meg Foster as the widow and Caroline Williams as her skeptical friend, Stepfather II picks up where the original left off and seamlessly continues the story without really changing or adding much, but it works and it's pretty fun. Again the murders are pretty tame, but these are more than just blood and guts. Not quite as great as the original, but a worthy, if entirely predictable, sequel. Followed by one more sequel.

This film DOES make it explicit that Terry O’Quinn is wearing a toupee, and that means I should get a toupee too! Unfortunately, the Perfect Performance Police sirens are nowhere to be heard here. Terry O’Quinn is fine, and very funny at one part where he listens to rice cereal cracklings, but he just doesn’t have the goods he had in the first one. It also is just weirdly boring, even though it has Meg Foster and Caroline Williams! And Caroline Williams plays a mailwoman! But it just lacks momentum and many compelling scenes and the pacing just ain’t there to keep things moving forward. The score is a little better though I guess? Less of those chintzy synths and more droning ones but still we’re not talking about The Fog or anything :/

Does not live up to the amazing subtitle 'Make Room for Daddy'

kind of boring. didn’t match the tension that the first one had which is fine but just not for me

"You will never find a better family man than me, pumpkin"

Terry O'Quinn's character makes it look so easy to break out of a mental institution and immediately start a new life with a new home, fake job and the local widow hot on you and your tail. This guy has it all figured out.

So far I'm not sold on these Stepfather films. With a lot of potential in both so far but both managing to turn more daytime TV drama instead of being thrilling or slasher worthy.

I'm curious how this dude has now survived two fucking knife wounds directly to the heart. They weren't little either! I'm talking big ol' knives driven to the hilt and he keeps on trucking. At least you get a wedding day disaster out of this one complete with blood covered cake and a hammer swinging stepson.

Underrated fun premise.
Only one more thing to say Make Room For Daddy.

Worthy follow up to the original.

Not as good as the original but a decent follow up. It's sad that a director could miss the blinking hanging woman!

#31daysofHorror
31 Days Of Halloween 2020
53/31 extra innings!

Not as good as the original but a decent follow up. It's sad that a director could miss the blinking hanging woman!

#31daysofHorror
31 Days Of Halloween 2020
53/31 extra innings!

Not the masterpiece the original was, but 3 stars for the Terry O’Quinn factor. He is just a treasure and a delight in this role.

Really good like this series 💯

Worst cheesy music and he should be dead. One star for the fancy eyed lady.

Doesn't quite have the same charm as the first but it does have Meg Foster, Caroline Williams and Jonathan Brandis so I can't complain too much