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Removal of What An Idiot potholes
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* TooDumbToLive: Susan cannot take a hint that her fiancé is a murderer to save her life. Neighbor claiming she saw his face on ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''? Susan passes it off as someone else. Ex-husband saying that Susan's youngest son was ''throttled'' by her fiancé? She briefly scorns him about it and doesn't bring it up again. [[note]][[TruthInTelevision To be fair, it can be hard to believe your ex-husband when he tells you your new beau is a psycho.]][[/note]] Her sister tells Susan that her fiancé left as soon as he had to fill out some employment forms, Susan ''laughs'' it off. You know you have a dumb as shit character when she does not get the message when her fiancé is pointing a knife at her, along with a whole bunch of weapons laid out on the table, saying that she should punish her son more, then ask, "[[ArcWords Who Am I here?]]". [[WhatAnIdiot Mother of the year.]]
to:
* TooDumbToLive: Susan cannot take a hint that her fiancé is a murderer to save her life. Neighbor claiming she saw his face on ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''? Susan passes it off as someone else. Ex-husband saying that Susan's youngest son was ''throttled'' by her fiancé? She briefly scorns him about it and doesn't bring it up again. [[note]][[TruthInTelevision To be fair, it can be hard to believe your ex-husband when he tells you your new beau is a psycho.]][[/note]] Her sister tells Susan that her fiancé left as soon as he had to fill out some employment forms, Susan ''laughs'' it off. You know you have a dumb as shit character when she does not get the message when her fiancé is pointing a knife at her, along with a whole bunch of weapons laid out on the table, saying that she should punish her son more, then ask, "[[ArcWords Who Am I here?]]". [[WhatAnIdiot Mother of the year.]]
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His MOTHER and stepfather lol. unless you're writing fanfiction.
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* ParentalSexualitySquick: Michael is disturbed by the sounds of his father and stepfather having sex and uses headphones and loud music to drown them out.
to:
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Michael is disturbed by the sounds of his father mother and stepfather having sex and uses headphones and loud music to drown them out.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Susan, so much so that [[UpToEleven she seems overly obnoxious compared to most other examples on that page]]. Her oldest son is unhappy with the stepfather and her best friend, ex-husband, and even an old lady down the street try to point out the oddities in her new husband's behavior, but she refuses to hear anything bad about the man, always countering the arguments with how good he is to her, how happy he makes her. Its actually quite possible she wasn't really oblivious to the warning signs so much as deluding herself into ignoring them.
to:
* ItsAllAboutMe: Susan, so much so that [[UpToEleven she seems overly obnoxious compared to most other examples on that page]].page. Her oldest son is unhappy with the stepfather and her best friend, ex-husband, and even an old lady down the street try to point out the oddities in her new husband's behavior, but she refuses to hear anything bad about the man, always countering the arguments with how good he is to her, how happy he makes her. Its actually quite possible she wasn't really oblivious to the warning signs so much as deluding herself into ignoring them.
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None
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stepfather_2009.jpg]]
''The Stepfather'' is a 2009 American {{thriller}}/{{slasher|Movie}} film directed by [[Creator/NelsonMcCormick Nelson McCormick]]. It's a [[TheRemake remake]] of the 1987 film of [[Film/TheStepfather the same name]].
Michael Harding (Creator/PennBadgley) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Creator/SelaWard), happily in love with a mysterious man known as David Harris (Creator/DylanWalsh), whom Michael doesn't quite get along with. Together with his girlfriend Kelly Porter (Creator/AmberHeard), and his father Jay (Creator/JonTenney) they begin to suspect David is not quite the man he claims to be.
----
!!Provides examples of:
* AdaptationalVillainy: The stepfather, who comes across as much more of a cold-blooded sociopath here compared to his predecessor, who was probably insane.
* AssholeVictim: Jay, Michael's deadbeat dad who walked on them, ends up being one of the victims after he confronts David.
* BigBad: The eponymous stepfather, who keeps marrying into families and killing them when they fail to meet expectations.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Michael, Kelly, and Susan survive David's wrath, but David gets away and is last seen charming a new family to kill. Plus, what's to say David[=/=]Grady won't tie up loose ends and eventually go after the Hardings?]]
* BloodlessCarnage: Due to its PG-13 status. He kills all his onscreen victims via some form of oxygen deprivation.
* BuryYourGays: Jackie, though the fact that she's a lesbian is only made clear shortly before her death.
* ButNotTooGay: It's only pretty close to the end of the film that we realize Jackie and Leah are lovers, and not just roommates or something.
* CallBack: The film has a lot of references to the original 1987 film . Surprising, considering it was made by the same people who brought us the ''Film/WhenAStrangerCalls'' and ''[[Film/PromNight2008 Prom Night]]'' remakes, both of which are borderline InNameOnly.
* CatScare: As Mrs. Cutters is looking for an intruder in her home, a cat jumps into frame and delivers a shrill meow. Right after, David reveals himself and kills her by pushing her down the stairs.
* HairTriggerTemper: One of the early signals David is bad news is his odd anger outbursts, such as the time he {{Neck Lift}}ed Sean when he didn't obey Susan.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Mrs. Cutters, Jackie and Michael get targeted by the Stepfather simply because they began to suspect him and were getting too close to the truth.
* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler: The Stepfather survives being taken out by the Hardings and is seen introducing himself to a new single mother with young boys some time later...]]
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The opening of the film is set sometime around Christmas.
%%* IdiotBall: Firmly gripped by many characters. ''Especially'' Susan. Let's just say that if Susan had half a braincell, the low kill count of about six or so would be down by ''three''.
* GuessWhoImMarrying: "David" is introduced as some kind of SerialKiller who murdered his old family, and when we next see him, he and Susan are together.
* IHaveManyNames: [[spoiler: David is actually just one of the many names The Stepfather adopted over the years in order to begin his life anew with a new family. We only learn about two others: Grady Edwards and Chris Ames. His real name is [[NoNameGiven never learned]]]].
* InternalReveal: The opening scene already shows that "David" is something of a SerialKiller who killed his previous family, with the rest of the film following Michael's efforts into finding out about "David" and preventing his family from suffering the same fate.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Susan, so much so that [[UpToEleven she seems overly obnoxious compared to most other examples on that page]]. Her oldest son is unhappy with the stepfather and her best friend, ex-husband, and even an old lady down the street try to point out the oddities in her new husband's behavior, but she refuses to hear anything bad about the man, always countering the arguments with how good he is to her, how happy he makes her. Its actually quite possible she wasn't really oblivious to the warning signs so much as deluding herself into ignoring them.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Susan's ex-husband Jay may not seem to be the most upstanding guy, but he was absolutely within his right to confront David, albeit violently, upon learning he inappropriately laid his hands on Sean.
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[spoiler:The Stepfather survives, gets away and is last seen charming another single woman with kids]].
** Susan was never called out, or even felt remorse, for ignoring all the warning signs that her fiancé is a serial killer and thus leading to the deaths of a neighbor, her ex-husband, and her sister. The closest thing she ever got was ''almost'' getting killed. Though considering that the word possibly have gotten out that her fiancé is a serial killer and that she was indirectly responsible for the deaths of those three, chances are that she will eventually.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Mrs. Cutter. David knocks her down a flight of stairs, and then asphyxiates her in a way (holding her nose and mouth shut while wearing gloves) that leaves no evidence, so investigators are left to assume that she died from the fall.
* MilitarySchool: The movie starts with Michael coming home after being sent away to a military school by his mother for unspecified "bad behavior".
* MrFanservice: The handsome Michael gets endless shots of him {{shirtless|Scene}}, usually by the poolside.
* MsFanservice: Kelly is a HeadTurningBeauty wearing a revealing bikini in half of her scenes.
* NeverTrustATrailer: That awesome swinging buzzsaw scene that was in all the trailers and TV spots? It's ''completely absent'' from the film.
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:David Harris is only one of the [[IHaveManyNames many names]] The Stepfather has used in his life, whatever his real name is, it is never revealed]].
* ParentalAbandonment: Jay walked out on his family years before the start of the film, and Michael still resents him for it.
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Michael is disturbed by the sounds of his father and stepfather having sex and uses headphones and loud music to drown them out.
* PaterFamilicide: [[spoiler:The Stepfather is a SerialKiller who moves from family to family, and kills all of them after they start disobeying him]].
* PoliceAreUseless: Obviously, but what sets them apart from the others is the fact that they couldn't catch a severely injured man crawling away when they were a few feet away.
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Stepfather has killed many families in the past]].
* SexyDiscretionShot: One scene has David and Susan kissing in bed before the scene [[FadeToBlack fades to black]], implying the kissing will turn into something more intimate.
* SexySurfacingShot: A PoolScene with Kelly and Michael ends with a shot of her climbing out of the pool in her bikini, with her even pointing out that he's EatingTheEyeCandy.
* ShowerScene:
** David is introduced showering the gore off after disposing of his previous family.
** One late scene shows Michael stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a ModestyTowel, before being startled by David's intrusion.
* SlashedThroat: During the final confrontation, Susan slashes the Stepfather in the neck with a glass shard, but it ends up not being deep enough to be fatal.
* SoftGlass: Michael smashes a window with his elbow, but doesn't get cut at all, and the sleeve of his hoodie remains intact, without even a few glass shards to show for it.
* SoundtrackDissonance: "Silent Night" and a more "hardcore" rendition of "Happy Together" appear during less-than-peaceful moments.
* StealthHiBye: The Stepfather constantly scares people by showing up behind them out of nowhere.
* TooDumbToLive: Susan cannot take a hint that her fiancé is a murderer to save her life. Neighbor claiming she saw his face on ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''? Susan passes it off as someone else. Ex-husband saying that Susan's youngest son was ''throttled'' by her fiancé? She briefly scorns him about it and doesn't bring it up again. [[note]][[TruthInTelevision To be fair, it can be hard to believe your ex-husband when he tells you your new beau is a psycho.]][[/note]] Her sister tells Susan that her fiancé left as soon as he had to fill out some employment forms, Susan ''laughs'' it off. You know you have a dumb as shit character when she does not get the message when her fiancé is pointing a knife at her, along with a whole bunch of weapons laid out on the table, saying that she should punish her son more, then ask, "[[ArcWords Who Am I here?]]". [[WhatAnIdiot Mother of the year.]]
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: There's a brief shot of Leah's bare back as she is getting into the shower while talking to Jackie.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The films are loosely based on the crimes of mass murderer John List, who killed his family, fled to Virginia, assumed another identity, remarried and wasn't caught for eighteen years.
* WickedStepfather: The eponymous Stepfather is a SerialKiller and the main antagonist of the film.
* WouldHurtAChild: David {{Neck Lift}}s the young Sean for playing video games with the volume too loud.
----
''The Stepfather'' is a 2009 American {{thriller}}/{{slasher|Movie}} film directed by [[Creator/NelsonMcCormick Nelson McCormick]]. It's a [[TheRemake remake]] of the 1987 film of [[Film/TheStepfather the same name]].
Michael Harding (Creator/PennBadgley) returns home from military school to find his mother Susan (Creator/SelaWard), happily in love with a mysterious man known as David Harris (Creator/DylanWalsh), whom Michael doesn't quite get along with. Together with his girlfriend Kelly Porter (Creator/AmberHeard), and his father Jay (Creator/JonTenney) they begin to suspect David is not quite the man he claims to be.
----
!!Provides examples of:
* AdaptationalVillainy: The stepfather, who comes across as much more of a cold-blooded sociopath here compared to his predecessor, who was probably insane.
* AssholeVictim: Jay, Michael's deadbeat dad who walked on them, ends up being one of the victims after he confronts David.
* BigBad: The eponymous stepfather, who keeps marrying into families and killing them when they fail to meet expectations.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Michael, Kelly, and Susan survive David's wrath, but David gets away and is last seen charming a new family to kill. Plus, what's to say David[=/=]Grady won't tie up loose ends and eventually go after the Hardings?]]
* BloodlessCarnage: Due to its PG-13 status. He kills all his onscreen victims via some form of oxygen deprivation.
* BuryYourGays: Jackie, though the fact that she's a lesbian is only made clear shortly before her death.
* ButNotTooGay: It's only pretty close to the end of the film that we realize Jackie and Leah are lovers, and not just roommates or something.
* CallBack: The film has a lot of references to the original 1987 film . Surprising, considering it was made by the same people who brought us the ''Film/WhenAStrangerCalls'' and ''[[Film/PromNight2008 Prom Night]]'' remakes, both of which are borderline InNameOnly.
* CatScare: As Mrs. Cutters is looking for an intruder in her home, a cat jumps into frame and delivers a shrill meow. Right after, David reveals himself and kills her by pushing her down the stairs.
* HairTriggerTemper: One of the early signals David is bad news is his odd anger outbursts, such as the time he {{Neck Lift}}ed Sean when he didn't obey Susan.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Mrs. Cutters, Jackie and Michael get targeted by the Stepfather simply because they began to suspect him and were getting too close to the truth.
* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler: The Stepfather survives being taken out by the Hardings and is seen introducing himself to a new single mother with young boys some time later...]]
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The opening of the film is set sometime around Christmas.
%%* IdiotBall: Firmly gripped by many characters. ''Especially'' Susan. Let's just say that if Susan had half a braincell, the low kill count of about six or so would be down by ''three''.
* GuessWhoImMarrying: "David" is introduced as some kind of SerialKiller who murdered his old family, and when we next see him, he and Susan are together.
* IHaveManyNames: [[spoiler: David is actually just one of the many names The Stepfather adopted over the years in order to begin his life anew with a new family. We only learn about two others: Grady Edwards and Chris Ames. His real name is [[NoNameGiven never learned]]]].
* InternalReveal: The opening scene already shows that "David" is something of a SerialKiller who killed his previous family, with the rest of the film following Michael's efforts into finding out about "David" and preventing his family from suffering the same fate.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Susan, so much so that [[UpToEleven she seems overly obnoxious compared to most other examples on that page]]. Her oldest son is unhappy with the stepfather and her best friend, ex-husband, and even an old lady down the street try to point out the oddities in her new husband's behavior, but she refuses to hear anything bad about the man, always countering the arguments with how good he is to her, how happy he makes her. Its actually quite possible she wasn't really oblivious to the warning signs so much as deluding herself into ignoring them.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Susan's ex-husband Jay may not seem to be the most upstanding guy, but he was absolutely within his right to confront David, albeit violently, upon learning he inappropriately laid his hands on Sean.
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[spoiler:The Stepfather survives, gets away and is last seen charming another single woman with kids]].
** Susan was never called out, or even felt remorse, for ignoring all the warning signs that her fiancé is a serial killer and thus leading to the deaths of a neighbor, her ex-husband, and her sister. The closest thing she ever got was ''almost'' getting killed. Though considering that the word possibly have gotten out that her fiancé is a serial killer and that she was indirectly responsible for the deaths of those three, chances are that she will eventually.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Mrs. Cutter. David knocks her down a flight of stairs, and then asphyxiates her in a way (holding her nose and mouth shut while wearing gloves) that leaves no evidence, so investigators are left to assume that she died from the fall.
* MilitarySchool: The movie starts with Michael coming home after being sent away to a military school by his mother for unspecified "bad behavior".
* MrFanservice: The handsome Michael gets endless shots of him {{shirtless|Scene}}, usually by the poolside.
* MsFanservice: Kelly is a HeadTurningBeauty wearing a revealing bikini in half of her scenes.
* NeverTrustATrailer: That awesome swinging buzzsaw scene that was in all the trailers and TV spots? It's ''completely absent'' from the film.
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler:David Harris is only one of the [[IHaveManyNames many names]] The Stepfather has used in his life, whatever his real name is, it is never revealed]].
* ParentalAbandonment: Jay walked out on his family years before the start of the film, and Michael still resents him for it.
* ParentalSexualitySquick: Michael is disturbed by the sounds of his father and stepfather having sex and uses headphones and loud music to drown them out.
* PaterFamilicide: [[spoiler:The Stepfather is a SerialKiller who moves from family to family, and kills all of them after they start disobeying him]].
* PoliceAreUseless: Obviously, but what sets them apart from the others is the fact that they couldn't catch a severely injured man crawling away when they were a few feet away.
* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:The Stepfather has killed many families in the past]].
* SexyDiscretionShot: One scene has David and Susan kissing in bed before the scene [[FadeToBlack fades to black]], implying the kissing will turn into something more intimate.
* SexySurfacingShot: A PoolScene with Kelly and Michael ends with a shot of her climbing out of the pool in her bikini, with her even pointing out that he's EatingTheEyeCandy.
* ShowerScene:
** David is introduced showering the gore off after disposing of his previous family.
** One late scene shows Michael stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a ModestyTowel, before being startled by David's intrusion.
* SlashedThroat: During the final confrontation, Susan slashes the Stepfather in the neck with a glass shard, but it ends up not being deep enough to be fatal.
* SoftGlass: Michael smashes a window with his elbow, but doesn't get cut at all, and the sleeve of his hoodie remains intact, without even a few glass shards to show for it.
* SoundtrackDissonance: "Silent Night" and a more "hardcore" rendition of "Happy Together" appear during less-than-peaceful moments.
* StealthHiBye: The Stepfather constantly scares people by showing up behind them out of nowhere.
* TooDumbToLive: Susan cannot take a hint that her fiancé is a murderer to save her life. Neighbor claiming she saw his face on ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''? Susan passes it off as someone else. Ex-husband saying that Susan's youngest son was ''throttled'' by her fiancé? She briefly scorns him about it and doesn't bring it up again. [[note]][[TruthInTelevision To be fair, it can be hard to believe your ex-husband when he tells you your new beau is a psycho.]][[/note]] Her sister tells Susan that her fiancé left as soon as he had to fill out some employment forms, Susan ''laughs'' it off. You know you have a dumb as shit character when she does not get the message when her fiancé is pointing a knife at her, along with a whole bunch of weapons laid out on the table, saying that she should punish her son more, then ask, "[[ArcWords Who Am I here?]]". [[WhatAnIdiot Mother of the year.]]
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: There's a brief shot of Leah's bare back as she is getting into the shower while talking to Jackie.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The films are loosely based on the crimes of mass murderer John List, who killed his family, fled to Virginia, assumed another identity, remarried and wasn't caught for eighteen years.
* WickedStepfather: The eponymous Stepfather is a SerialKiller and the main antagonist of the film.
* WouldHurtAChild: David {{Neck Lift}}s the young Sean for playing video games with the volume too loud.
----
