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  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Why did the Stepfather continue to live a relatively secular lifestyle when many highly religious communities would have given him much more power over the household? Was he afraid he couldn't fake religious sincerity? Was he concerned about the lack of single women in groups that ostracized divorcees? Was he just unwilling to accept the constraints on his behavior a religious community would bring?
  • Jerkass Woobie: The stepfather, in the original at least. He's absolutely sincere in his desire to build a "perfect family" and genuinely heartbroken when his relationship with Susan and Stephanie starts to fall apart. It's hard not to sympathize with him somewhat, at least until he completely snaps and decides that Murder Is the Best Solution. The 2009 remake averts it by making him a complete asshole with no redeeming or sympathetic features.
  • Rooting for the Empire: At least in the original and in Stepfather II. Terry O'Quinn's charming and likable performance can make the viewer forget that his character is a crazed serial killer. The Cinema Snob even pointed that out in his reviews of both films.
  • Signature Scene: In the original, it is when the Stepfather forgets who he is while talking to Susan.
  • So Bad, It's Good: Stepfather III is considered the poorest of the films, where everybody seems to have Took a Level in Dumbass in regards to similar characters in previous films, and the stepfather himself comes off as less of a troubled but charming sociopath and more of an obviously crazy lunatic, but people still find it entertaining in an ironic way for the same reasons. The one genuinely good thing people seem to like is Robert Wightman as the stepfather, as while he's no Terry O'Quinn, he still gives a good performance.
  • So Okay, It's Average: Stepfather II, and the 2009 remake.
  • Squick:
    • Stephanie's random and gratuitous Shower Scene in the first film. Remember, she's only 16. Mitigated somewhat by the fact that Jill Schoelen was 23 at the time of filming, but still.
    • Stepfather III used actual plastic surgery footage for when the stepfather gets his face altered.
  • Too Cool to Live:
    • The first film had James "Jim" Ogilvie, an Amateur Sleuth Determinator Vigilante Man who hunts down the stepfather, but unfortunately, is killed by him just before the climax.
    • The third film had Father Brennan, who helps Andy before becoming one of the stepfather's victims, and the stepfather himself, despite being played by The Other Darrin and had undergo Villain Decay.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: All that build and anticipation towards the final confrontation between The Stepfather and Jim Ogilvie has an anti-climatic payoff with The Stepfather just instantly killing him and Jim is all but forgotten in the next scene. The Cinema Snob pointed out how pointless all that build-up was since the confrontation didn't make the character important to the plot.

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