***What if your stepfather is a psycho?***

After an amiable man (Terry O'Quinn) in the Seattle area slays his family he starts a new one under a different identity, but his discerning stepdaughter (Jill Schoelen) picks up on his questionable morality.

“The Stepfather” (1987) is a solid crime drama/thriller with a bit o’ horror. Movies like “Psycho” (1960), “Play Misty for Me” (1971), “Halloween” (1978), “The Shining” (1980) and “Fatal Attraction” (1987) come to mind, but this is equal parts coming-of-age drama in the mold of “The Crush” (1993) with a sort of inverted story. O’Quinn effectively portrays the delusional titular character while Schoelen is reminiscent of a young Demi Moore. The decidedly 80’s score is quaint.

The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in the Vancouver area, including Edgemont Village. The main cast is rounded out by Shelley Hack (the girl’s mother), Charles Lanyer (her therapist) and Stephen Shellen (the justice-seeking brother of the original family).

GRADE: B+