Such a frustrating disappointment

Best movie of this year hands down!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

STEPFATHER 2 opens w/ a quick recap of the first film. In the present, Jerry has somehow survived his wounds, and sits in a psychiatric hospital. Needless to say, Jerry wants out, so he can find that perfect family he so fervently seeks. Through his own cunning and some boneheaded security lapses by hospital staff, Jerry -his name is Gene Clifford now- gets busy locating his next target. Carol Grayland (Meg Foster) and her son, Todd (Jonathan Brandis) live across the street from Jerry / Gene's new abode, where he's set himself up as a family counselor (!!). Super conveniently, Carol needs the "doctor's" help. As fate -and Gene- would have it, love is in the air, and wedding bells are soon about to ring. That is, once Gene takes care of Carol's pesky ex-husband, before he ruins everything! Oh, and that nosy, mail-carrying friend of hers, Matty (Caroline Williams)! Oops-y daisy! Time for Dr. Clifford to get to work. Problems solved! Will Carol ever wake up and smell the madness? As sequels go, this is a good one, though it isn't as stellar as the first film. O'Quinn shines w/ the same lunacy, and Ms. Foster's character is just as clueless as Shelley Hack before her. The church finale is... breathtaking!...

The last time we saw Henry Morrison/Jerry Blake, he was all shot up and stabbed in the heart, mumbling "I love you" and falling down the steps. Who knew that he'd survive that and come back to do it all over again? Jerry Blake is a survivor. Since the end of the last movie, he's been recovering in a Puget Sound mental institution, one that he soon escapes. Before you can say "new identity" he's become Gene Clifford and has moved into the planned community of Palm Meadows outside Los Angeles.He's already found a new potential family with Carol Grayland (Meg Foster, Masters of the Universe, They Live) and her son, Todd (Becca fave Jonathan Brandis). As the therapist to all of the local wives, he learns that her husband Phil ran away last year and when he tries to come back to his family, our stepfather hero kills him and covers it up.The mail carrier, Matty Crimmins (Caroline Williams, Stretch from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!) sees through his identity when she finds mail addresses to the real Gene Clifford that reveals him to be a black man. You know what happens to people who figure out the stepfather's identity? Yep. They get removed and their wine gets taken.Those bottles of wine and the song "Camptown Races" end up fingering Gene, with Carol confronting him just before they're due to be married. Despite being stabbed, the stepfather almost succeeds in killing again until Todd stabs him with a clawhammer. Then comes the best part in this entire film: mother and son walk out to "Here Comes the Bride," while a choir reacts in abject terror to the fact that they're covered in blood.Oh man - our kinda sorta hero isn't dead yet. He makes his way to the altar before saying, "Until death do us part." Oh man. Well done, dude.After a test screening of the film, Harvey and Bob Weinstein complained about the lack of blood and demanded re-shoots. Director Jeff Burr (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Puppet Master 4, Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings) and O'Quinn refused, so the shots were added in by another director.Stepfather 2 isn't quite as good as the original. But hey - if you're looking for one more movie where a dad wipes out his family...

As far as rapidly produced sequels to unexpected 80's horror sleeper hits go, "The Stepfather II" is as good as it gets. And yes, I really meant that as a positive remark! The original was suspenseful, moody and even somewhat plausible. The sequel is outrageous, campy and absurd, but all that is completely acceptable because sequels are supposed to be like that. When the element of surprise is gone and the plot is as predictable as the weather forecast in Siberia, what else are you supposed to show except grotesque madness and nonsensical horror goodness? But, most of all, this is primarily Terry O'Quinn's big showcase movie. There were he was genuinely creepy and unpredictable in the first movie, he's a mad raving one-man-lunacy show here. The story logically continues where "The Stepfather" ended, only you'll have relish with some far-fetched things that may come across as unreal. Shortly after his initial murder spree, Jerry Blake is alive, kicking and institutionalized. Not only did he survive that stabbing at the end of the original, he only has the tiniest little scar on his chest even though I clearly remember that the blade of the knife was planted in his body for at least three quarters! His escape from the mental asylum is even more implausible, as the stupidest psychiatrist imaginable pretty much breaks all the safety rules ever written and literally begs to be massacred. He moves to a brand new neighborhood where he takes on the identity of a deceased family counselor and purchases a house. Jerry – or Gene, as he is calling himself now - may a lot more psychopathic than he used to be (whenever his anger gets the best of him, he retires to his basement to play with his buzz saw); he nevertheless remains a smooth talking guy who specializes in heartbroken women and confused kids of divorced parents. He seduces the lonely real estate agent Meg Foster (who looks like Kirstie Alley's identical twin sister) and befriends her teenage son in just a matter of days. His obsession to become a model family is interfered twice, though. First Carol's runaway husbands returns to revive their marriage and secondly there's the skeptical best friend Matty. I really liked her character, even though she should have gone to the police a bit quicker instead of playing Sherlock Holmes herself. "The Stepfather II" has a terrific climax! This was the best, hands down, wedding day sequence ever! The husband nearly kills his wife and together they practically destroy the whole building, yet none of the invitees notices a damn thing!

I am sure Danny Thomas never thought that "Make Room for Daddy" would be the tag line in a film like this.Terry O'Quinn (John Locke from "Lost") is a slasher/serial killer in a mental hospital. He escapes, and tries to start a normal life.But, that old slasher brain can't handle stress, and his romance with Meg Foster ends badly for him.Not a whole lot of slasher action. Mostly just a small town romance story with a slasher angle that plays in a few times.I really don't know how it could have been done differently, but it just didn't have that sparkle.