Stepfather 2

Not killed by his previous family, Jerry Blake (or whoever his name is) is institutionalized, soon finding a way to escape, securing himself a brand new location, looking for a brand new family. The question is: Will the new family he is eyeing suffer the same fate as others in the past?

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After a ludicrous set up that allows Terry O’Quinn to escape his psychiatric institution because he’s provided a new quack who thinks his disturbed patients deserve a level of trust so “they can get better and be candid about their feelings” is able to successfully capture the affection of a divorcee (Meg Foster), with a son in tow (Jonathan Brandis). It really is hard to excuse how the doc is so incredibly stupid and manipulated into so trusting O’Quinn’s Jerry. When Jerry catches the doc off guard as he writes some notes about “Jerry’s improvement” (through the use of a figure imitating himself with a hidden nail, Jerry waits until his quack’s attention is diverted; the doc was quite impressed with Jerry’s demonstration of destroying a miniature house, only to rebuild it again as to offer a prognosis on how to improve his outlook on life through therapy), I can’t imagine too many people can feel sorry for the victim due to his clumsy lack of apprehension when his patient is clearly a homicidal maniac who needs to be kept at a safe distance. Director Burr even comments on the Synapsis dvd release of the sequel that he felt the opening is weak; there needed to be a way for Jerry to be out in the open again to threaten yet another mother and child. 

Taking a name from the obits, Gene Clifford, O’Quinn heads from Puget Sound, Washington, to California, Palm Meadow Estates where suburbia is alive and well, offering, perhaps, the opportunity for the family he has always coveted and obsessively desired. Carol (Foster) is a real estate agent who shows “Gene” a home for lease, and he accepts. Soon the two become intimately involved, with nuptials potentially awaiting the newly minted couple.

 I will say I did love the irony of Gene’s “new gig”, he takes up in his new digs as a psychiatrist (ha), his field surrounding relationships and family. He even has a soothing calm, a seemingly attentive and patient ease with those who decide to come to him, including Carol (this is basically where Gene is able to secure her trust and soon a hand in marriage) needing to voice the troubles of her failed marriage. Carol has a good buddy gal pal named Madeleine (Maddy to her friends), a bit blunt and boisterous, chatty and loose-tongued, spunky and forward (basically it all spills out like during a group session with Gene, she opens talks about the mail of one of the women present; she also gleefully points out aloud how Gene has eyes for Carol). 

Maddy is a nuisance to Gene because she’s so willy-nilly—there’s no sense that she holds back anything that pops in her mind, not to mention, she sticks her nose where it perhaps doesn’t belong—and is a deterrent to his future betrothal of her friend. Also instigating his wrath/rage is the returning cheat, Phil, wanting a second chance with Carol after leaving her for a younger woman (a hygienist), a real prick that thinks he can just show up and be allowed to slide right back into the family dynamic unscathed. Carol is almost willing to if just for the happiness of  her son, but Gene wants Phil out of the way, doing show with a broken champagne bottle (broken across Phil’s head, Gene takes a the bottom of the bottle, with a pointy end, and lets out the savage on the guy). Gene is determined to get what he wants, and those who stand in his way (Phil and Maddy) will suffer the consequences. Gene has to get rid of Phil and make it appear as if he “disappeared”. Maddy’s nosy nature won’t help matters for her, either.

 The film has one of those early psycho release moments for Gene where he has gathered Phil’s possessions (clothes, condiments, etc), loading them up in the trunk with the victim’s body, driving the car to an auto wrecker’s lot. Gene plays some elevator music while driving Phil’s car into numerous wrecked vehicles, all the while chatting it up with Phil during the whole attempt at demolition derby. These are moments where we see Gene completely without the constraints and barriers that define the façade of perfect family man. Here, he’s all psychopath. The way O’Quinn plays the scene, this whole vehicular smash up is a therapeutic release for Gene. He has gotten rid of the nuisance and now can make his move after disposing of the trash. When the car won’t start after he takes it head first into a wrecked car, Gene says, “Should’ve bought American, Phil.” It doesn’t stop there. He picks up a car part and starts breaking windows and pummeling the body. Total release. His whistled tune and return to the charade as he walks away from his handiwork, soon arriving home after a nice, long stroll, meeting up with Todd (Brandis), discussing what he spoke to Phil about, offering a glass of milk and supportive conversation, it perfectly describes how O’Quinn’s killer can go back and forth between psychotic and normal. It is a bravura performance. Accolades are much deserved to O’Quinn.

Burr corresponds Gene’s unveiling his feelings for Carol while the car, holding Phil’s body, is crushed in the car graveyard. When she asks Gene, “What if Phil comes back?” with Gene answering, “I don’t think Phil’s coming back”, these bits of dark humor, along with O’Quinn’s work, I think salvage what could have been a disaster. I was amused at the implausibility of Caroline Williams’ Maddy keeping her job as a postal worker considering how open she could be about reading mail. Sure, I imagine this has happened (and continues to), but when it is blatantly established, this behavior, I’m amazed she hadn’t been reported. She confronts Gene about his lies and fake identity, having him meet her at a golf course, out in the open, pretty much declaring herself a spy who reads other people’s mail. But she knows who Gene really was and threatens to tell Graham, but he stalls her so he can supposedly tell Carol himself. That just prolongs the situation so he can catch Maddy at home and silence her. Burr admits that he hated the cat trick for a cheap jolt when Maddy hears a noise in her kitchen and goes to inspect what is making the racket, taking along a letter opener for protection.

Maddy's murder (a faked hanging after he strangles her) is what ultimately undoes everything Gene has built in his time in Palm Meadows. He seems to committed a successful crime, but two key mistakes cause irreparable harm. He takes from Maddy's home a bottle of this specific wine that cannot be just bought at the local liquor store (Maddy's parents got a set for her for her birthday) for a late night drink with Carol. The major mistake that certainly ruins him is his Camptown Races tune, whistled while walking from Maddy's to Carol's, heard by a blind neighbor (he tells Carol of a mysterious man coming from Maddy's home across his yard). Taught to Todd by Gene, Carol overhears her son whistling it; that coupled with the set of wine dropped off at her wedding from Maddy's parents together confirm a horrifying truth regarding the man she loves.

The ending is all visceral. This is where all the violence erupts and that dormant monster that lurks within Gene (many Dexter fans might call it his "dark passenger") just releases on poor Carol (Meg Foster is a real trooper for what looks like some harsh treatment) when she calls him out. There's this great moment where O'Quinn lets out this fit of fists-to-the-table rage, his teeth clinched, his face heavily angered, just questioning aloud what he has to do to get it right. Carol takes a beating for ruining his perfect set up. The wedding is about to start, Carol identifies Gene's secret, and he waylays on her. All she can do is try to either protect herself or get away from him, neither working too well because she's a civilized, very low-toned and calm-voiced woman while Gene, when incensed, is a force of nature that can only be culled through extreme violence to his person. He gets it, too. A cake cutter to the chest and the eventual hammer shot by Todd (interfering as he was about to stab her with the cutter he pulls from his chest; she was responsible for this stab, too) do the trick. There's this amazing visual where a bloody and battered (her hair all in a mess, her wedding dress torn) Carol and her son walk away the mortally wounded Gene, entering the chapel with a room full of people shocked at such a horrific sight, with the bride-to-be eventually collapsing from her injuries. 

There's a final moment where you almost feel sympathy for Gene. This is all O'Quinn. What an actor to be able to pull that off after just tearing into Foster. He limps towards the fallen wedding cake, takes the head of the figurine of what what supposed to be his new bride, utters barely as life slips away, "Til Death do Us...", and just gives up The Ghost. This is the kind of performance that could be totally damaging if not from the right kind of actor (see Stepfather III). O'Quinn's credible acting--able to show a man with the ability to slip on and off a persona he so wants to succeed, going through the hard work of seducing and gaining the trust and affection of a woman with a child, only succumbing to the monster within when all his labor seems to never quite satisfactorily bring the kind of dividends he so desperately reaches for--is a revelation. He did it before, though, so that isn't really anything you cannot see in a far better film. All you really have left is the basics of what will derail his plans for the perfect family, how will he try to see that those that might oppose these said plans are removed from the equation, and who will stop him from leaving another mother and child(ren) bloody bodies to be investigated. That said, O'Quinn is so fun to watch, and the ending really goes for broke with O'Quinn and Foster really engaged in quite a battle for survival. Williams is a hoot in her supporting part, and the film is professionally well made for a sequel that was rather unnecessary. I didn't find it a total waste.

I highly recommend watching the Synapsis dvd documentary of the film. Those who made it were humble and honest about how they knew going in that competing with the quality of the first film was not an option, giving high praise to The Stepfather and O'Quinn. Burr candidly speaks on how his version of the film was tampered with by the Weinsteins, with added bloodshed and other scenes that he didn't approve of (he did admit that without them, proper distribution of the sequel might not have happened). Sadly no cast interviews, which was unfortunate, although a cool factoid was mentioned that Foster's role was intended for Kay Lenz (Stripped to Kill; Clint Eastwood's directed Breezy; House), but she wasn't considered a "classy choice" whatever the fuck that means. I am just fascinated with Foster anytime she's in a film; her eyes, yes, are a major reason, but it is the way she performs, as if her characters are introverted and shield a bit of themselves from others, giving her an air of mystery I find fascinating. Included in the sequel is a surprising erotic love making scene with Foster and O'Quinn. They aren't naked on screen, but it is filmed in such a way that is rather sexy in how she is the instigator and he seems kind of convinced by her to do it despite reservations (old fashioned, Victorian ideals that Foster's Carol is willing to forgo so she can bang Gene). It goes against all the principles of the persona Gene wishes to protect and cultivate.

I am breathing a sigh of relief as I write this because a dearth of my review I though was lost. It was held in a Microsoft recovery and quite the happy, happy, happy man is me.