Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Can you keep a good stepfather down, despite him being shot and stabbed in the heart multiple times? Of course not. That's why even if Terry O'Quinn isn't coming back, his character definitely will in this made for HBO movie.Yes, Gene Clifford has survived being stabbed with a clawhammer in the heart and went right back into the same mental institution in Puget Sound. And he escapes it all over again, finding a back alley surgeon to change his appearance, all with no anesthesia, before killing that very same doctor.Oh yeah - now the stepfather is played by Robert Wightman, who is best known for taking over the role of John-Boy Walton from Richard Thomas.Now, he's Keith Grant, a gardener who dresses up as the Easter Bunny for a church party. There, he meets Christine Davis (Priscilla Barnes from TV's Three's Company) and her son Andy, who has been in a wheelchair since an accident. He even takes care of Christine's psycho ex, Mark, by killing him with a shovel. Once that body is buried in the garden, Keith is free to marry Christine and Andy goes away to stay with his dad, Steve.It turns out that Christine can't have children any longer, so Keith begins courting another woman, Jennifer (Season Hubley, Vice Squad) and her son Nicholas. His boss totally picks up on this, so that guy has to die.Andy is back home and he's well versed in true crime. So he starts researching Keith and his history. He's surprised when his new dad misidentifies him as Nicholas, so the typical stepfather behavior has started as he begins forgetting his identity and killing anyone who learns the truth, like that troublemaking priest!Will the stepfather find true love? Will Andy walk again? Can even the stepfather survive falling into a woodchipper? All of these questions and probably a few more will be answered by the end of this movie.If you watch this movie without looking at the screen, you may think that Terry O'Quinn is still in it. The voice is very close. But once you watch it, the acting isn't as good. In fact, Wightman is quite wooden, particularly in a sex scene with Barnes where she's sweaty and super into it. I don't mean that as a pun. But sure, you can take it that way.Andy is also the exact opposite - overacted to the extreme and given to fits of screaming. There's a near hilarious scene where they attempt to play football together that had me laughing in a completely inappropriate way. At least there's plenty of gore to make up for all the cheese.

~Spoiler~ The only thing that worked about Stepfather 2 was Terry O'Quinn. How is a Stepfather movie going to measure up with his absence? The answer: it's not. Stepfather 3 is a horrible attempt to breathe new life into a dated franchise. Once again we're asked to believe that the invincible Stepfather did not die in the finale of Stepfather 2. In fact, he walked away from the incident before the police arrived. No simple disguise will work this time. It's plastic surgery time. This gives the filmmakers an excuse to bring in a different actor. Robert Wightman takes over the Stepfather mantle and I feel bad for the guy. He's doing a very stiff impersonation of O'Quinn the entire run of the movie. Maybe if he had made the character his own, the movie wouldn't have been so horrid. But I doubt it. The only interesting bit in this repetitious story is the balancing act in the 3rd act. The Stepfather is trying to deal with two families at once because he's unsatisfied with his situation. The ending is definitive this time (even moreso than the last two films). The Stepfather is shoved into a wood chipper by the paralyzed boy who has finally overcome his fear of walking (yes, it's as cheesy as you picture). The problem is after 110 minutes, you just don't care. Some mook on the back of the box states "4 stars...undoubtedly one of the best horror films of the decade." How much did it cost to sell your soul?

You know, i sort of liked this one even though Terry O'Quinn wasn't in it. The things i liked about this is the brilliant idea of plastic surgery on a killer's face, and the way Robert Wightman portrayed the stepfather as a Terry O'Quinn Wannabe. When I first saw this one i kind of laughed at who played the stepfather because the last time i saw Wightman was when he replaced Richard Thomas as John Boy Walton, so in the long run John Boy Walton is playing the stepfather who seemed to be of a goofy version of O'Quinn, but on the other hand, perhaps if he was crazy enough to take the role of John Boy Walton i guess he would be crazy enough to play a psychotic perfect family man. Just keep all that in mind when you ask why they would choose Wightman as the stepfather. As for the rest of the cast, Priscilla Barnes did not seem to be the vulnerable victim, it looked like Season Hubley had that part. David Tom was cast perfectly as the son, but did they really have to put him in a wheelchair. John Ingle as the priest was no surprise because he played a priest a lot. I give this one 6 out of 10

Everyone says that Stepfather 1 was a very good film , stepfather 2 was a good film and Stepfather 3 is very big trash ! I don´t think so ! OK , Stepfather 3 is sometimes very boring but the Gore-Effects in this movie are very bloody and were made very good ! So you can watch this movie 1 or 2 times and you will have fun with it !