Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy

Though not quite the retread of its predecessor one might’ve anticipated, Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy nevertheless comes off as a tiresome sequel that boasts little worth recommending aside from Terry O’Quinn’s expectedly electrifying performance. The storyline follows O’Quinn’s homicidal Jerry Blake as he adopts the persona of friendly therapist Gene Clifford, with the bulk of the proceedings detailing his ongoing efforts at winning over a single mother (Meg Foster’s Carol) and her young son (Jonathan Brandis’ Todd). Director Jeff Burr has infused Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy with precisely the sort of egregiously deliberate pace that plagued its predecessor, with the sporadic inclusion of admittedly engaging kill sequences – coupled with O’Quinn’s charismatic work – ensuring that the almost unreasonably thin storyline doesn’t become entirely problematic until about the one-hour mark. The increasingly uneventful atmosphere is exacerbated by a climax that couldn’t possibly be less exciting, and it’s ultimately difficult to envision even fans of the original Stepfather finding much here worth celebrating.

** out of ****