Back in the 1980s, horror became a thriving genre, largely due to franchises like Friday the 13th, Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, this domain sported a wide variety of flicks, and for something a little different, we go to 1987’s The Stepfather.

About a year after her husband dies, Susan (Shelley Hack) gets remarried to Jerry Blake (Terry O’Quinn) in a grocery store. Her teen daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen) doesn’t warm up to her new stepdad, though, even after he brings her a puppy.

On the surface, Jerry seems like a great catch, but Stephanie remains uneasy. Does Stephanie detect chinks in Jerry’s armor that her mother misses or does she just dislike the intrusion of a new parent so soon after the loss of her dad?

Because I tend to do things backward, I watched the 2009 remake of Stepfather before I saw this 1987 original. Actually, I did so unintentionally, as I didn’t realize the 1980s version existed until I viewed the more recent version.

Scratch that: I should say I didn’t remember the 1980s Stepfather existed until after I saw the 2009 edition. When I checked out that Blu-ray, it triggered faint memories of the 1987 film.

The remake made me curious to view the original, mainly because the 2009 Stepfather provided such a terrible film. I couldn’t help but wonder if the first take on the property fared better.

Short answer: yep. While not a great film by any stretch, the original Stepfather seems substantially more satisfying than its remake.

Admittedly, that exists as a low bar. The 2009 Stepfather provided an example of everything wrong with modern horror, so it became a truly awful flick.

Both do share one choice I view as a flaw, though: their opening sequences. In both films, we see that Jerry slaughtered his family, changed his name/appearance, and moved on from there.

I think this removes mystery from the story. If we meet Jerry along with his new wife and family, we get more room to question whether or not character’s suspicions seem valid.

Because we see right off the bat that Jerry is banana bonkers, we never wonder if Stephanie – or her male equivalent in the 2009 movie – assess him correctly. We know they’re right and get stuck in limbo as we wait for the story to prove their beliefs.

I do understand the POV utilized here, as it echoes the Hitchcockian notion that audience knowledge of a ticking bomb creates suspense. Clearly the filmmakers believed that the story would offer greater tension if we knew of Jerry’s psychotic tendencies and waited for him to explode rather than if we felt unsure and needed to play detective.

I simply disagree that this approach works for this story, though the conceit fares much better in the 1987 film than it did in the 2009 version. With the latter, the Jerry character – there named David – acts like such a freak from so early in the movie that it becomes difficult to believe no one other than his stepson picks up on the issues.

The 2009 film also forces David’s wife and others to sound like idiots as they come up with ludicrous excuses for his behavior. The viewer inevitably hopes David will butcher the lot because they seem too stupid to live.

The 1987 Stepfather alleviates most of these concerns. Jerry maintains a much better “public face” than David does, and the film doesn’t require Susan or others to come up with idiotic rationalizations.

All of this allows the 1987 Stepfather to seem more believable. Granted, we still know Stephanie’s thoughts will prove correct since we already saw Jerry slaughter a family, but at least the story progresses in a more logical fashion.

Director Joseph Ruben also creates a surprisingly subdued vibe for this Stepfather. While the movie eventually builds to a fevered pitch, Ruben doesn’t overplay the thriller moments much of the time, and this allows for greater suspense since the movie doesn’t beat us over the head with its manipulative techniques.

Stepfather does suffer from a superfluous subplot related to the brother of Jerry’s prior victim. This theme feels tacked on and gratuitous.

Also, the movie does somewhat fall apart toward the end. While the third act doesn’t completely collapse, it opts for “cheaper thrills” than the rest of the film.

Still, Stepfather holds up pretty well after more than 35 years. Though not a great thriller, it brings a better than decent “B”-movie.

The Stepfather appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a bad presentation, the image felt mediocre.

Sharpness varied. While most shots presented pretty good definition, a few others suffered from lackluster delineation. The movie usually showed reasonable clarity, but it sometimes looked vaguely soft.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge enhancement. Occasional specks and marks appeared.

Colors were another lackluster element. The film opted for a somber brown feel much of the time as well as chilly blues for night shots. The tones felt a little heavy much of the time and failed to deliver much vivacity.

Blacks were decent but unexceptional, and shadows tended to come across as moderately thick. Although I never found this to be a bad transfer, it showed too many concerns to rate higher than a “C+”. It simply looked a bit too iffy to satisfy.

Don’t expect much from the movie’s ordinary LPCM monaural soundtrack. Speech was reasonably natural and concise, though a little distortion cropped up at times. Music showed acceptable clarity, though the score lacked much range.

Effects brought us accurate enough material, though the whole package tended to feel subdued and without much sonic impact. This was never a memorable track, but it seemed acceptable when I considered the movie’s era.

A few extras appear here, and we get an audio commentary from director Joseph Rubin. Along with Fangoria Michael Gingold as moderator, he delivers a running, screen-specific look at the project’s roots and development, story/characters, cast and performances, music, sets and locations, stunts, editing, and related domains.

This becomes a generally good chat, though not a great one, mainly because it loses steam as it goes. We still find a pretty decent array of notes, though.

A documentary called The Stepfather Chronicles spans 26 minutes, 45 seconds. It offers notes from Ruben, author Brian Garfield, producer Jay Benson, cinematographer John Lindley, and actor Jill Schoelen.

“Chronicles” looks at the historical inspiration for the film and the tale’s path to the screen, story and characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, stunts and action, and the movie’s release. Despite some repetition with the commentary, this turns into a useful summary.

Under trailers, we get US and German ads for the movie. We also find clips for the film’s two sequels and a “video store promo” from the late 1980s.

Nothing about The Stepfather makes it a classic thriller. However, it becomes generally effective and offers a nice change of pace among all the 80s slashers. The Blu-ray comes with mediocre picture and audio as well as a few bonus materials. Despite some flaws, Stepfather offers a moderately intriguing film.