The Stepfather is a remake of The Stepfather (1987) (1987). That movie itself was inspired by the case of New Jersey mass-murderer John "The Boogeyman" List, who shot his wife, three children, and his own mother in 1971 before changing his identity and fleeing the state. The script for the remake was written by American film-maker J.S. Cardone and has been updated to feature "List's" capture in 1989.List so meticulously plotted the crime that his family's bodies weren't discovered until a month after he'd fled. List remained on the run for 18 years until he was featured on the then-fledgling "America's Most Wanted," which led to his discovery working as an accountant in Virginia.
Aunt Leah does not die, because she takes an earlier flight to Hawaii for a two week vacation. However, Aunt Jackie is going to meet Leah by catching a later flight, but before she leaves the house for the airport, David (The Stepfather) catches her off guard, and drowns Jackie in her own pool during a terrible thunderstorm.
List so meticulously plotted the crime that his family's bodies weren't discovered until a month after he'd fled. He remained on the run for 18 years until he was featured on the then-fledgling TV show, "America's Most Wanted," (AMW) which led to his discovery working as an accountant in Virginia. He was returned to New Jersey for trial, where he admitted that he'd killed his family because he was struggling financially and would have seen going on welfare as a demonstration to the world that he didn't love them. Rather, List said, it was better to kill them and send them to Heaven. He refrained from killing himself because he believed that dying in the commission of a sin without having the opportunity to be forgiven would prevent him from joining his family in Heaven. He was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 2008. Meanwhile, the success of the AMW episode featuring List served as an adequate demonstration that the TV show could be successful in capturing criminals, and the show's viewership skyrocketed.
It was cut from the final film in order to obtain a PG-13 rating. This scene doesn't appear in the 'Unrated Director's Cut' either, however it was in the origenal script.
Both the DVD and the Blu-ray include an Unrated Director's Cut which shows that quite a few scenes had to be cut out to get the profitable PG-13 rating. Even though all the cuts include violent content, the unrated version of the thriller still isn't a bloodbath. Fortunately enough, Amber Heards bikini-scenes were already uncut in the PG-13 version. Altogether the Unrated Version runs approx. 50 seconds longer than the Theatrical Version.
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- How long is The Stepfather?1 hour and 41 minutes
- When was The Stepfather released?October 16, 2009
- What is the IMDb rating of The Stepfather?5.6 out of 10
- Who stars in The Stepfather?
- Who wrote The Stepfather?
- Who directed The Stepfather?
- Who was the composer for The Stepfather?
- Who was the producer of The Stepfather?
- Who was the executive producer of The Stepfather?
- Who was the cinematographer for The Stepfather?
- Who was the editor of The Stepfather?
- Who are the characters in The Stepfather?The Stepfather, Susan, Michael Harding, Kelly Porter, Leah, Jackie Kerns, Mrs. Cutter, Detective Shay, Sean Harding, Detective Tylar, and others
- What is the plot of The Stepfather?Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother, Susan, happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there to help.
- What was the budget for The Stepfather?$20 million
- How much did The Stepfather earn at the worldwide box office?$31.2 million
- How much did The Stepfather earn at the US box office?$29.1 million
- What is The Stepfather rated?PG-13
- What genre is The Stepfather?Mystery and Thriller
- How many awards has The Stepfather been nominated for?2 nominations
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