The Stepdaughter

A lot of these direct-to-video movies aren't always the greatest, because they obviously couldn't even make it to the theater. I have no clue why this wasn't in theaters. It wasn't all that bad. Andrea Roth and Lisa Dean Ryan were rather good, and the story was really great. I recommend this movie. I give The Stepdaughter a 7 out of 10. :)

This film generates a lot of hate but it's not so bad. It is teribly format and there are so many ananswered qudestions and loose ends but ... it's a made-for-tv movie that has to rein in the blood and gore and doesn't care about things making sense, For example, Susan does say something about her stepfather (not much) but because of the very limited backstory we don't really get why the film called The Stepdaughter. The way she answers questions it's as if she's trying to get caught in lies. But... Andrea Roth is extremly dishy and it's nice to see her runnning around and the ranch setting is really beautiful, so it's not too bad a ride at all.

The Stepdaughter? After watching this I am left wondering why it was even called that? Was there even a stepdaughter in it? Was Susan/Karen someone's stepdaughter?

But, on to the movie itself. It was interesting enough to keep you watching and wondering a little, but most of the time I spent groaning and rolling my eyes at the various plot holes and silliness. At times it is amazingly predictable, other times mildly suspenseful, but most times only slightly entertaining. My favorite cliches include the little "idiot" boy saving the day, the bumbling lawman, the good-looking big stud farm hand trying to force himself on her, and "I'm so crazy I talk to my doll". Then after all the buildup and clues start coming together... the payoff is very weak I felt.

I don't want to be all negative about any film, so I'll say that Andrea Roth does a good job as does Lisa Dean Ryan I thought. At least for what they had to work with.

4/10

not a great film by any stretch of imagination but also not the worse of this B movie thriller genre (what? no Billy R. Moses?).I thought the villainess was passably convincing and compelling and I absolutely rooted for her over the daughter-from-hell good daughter...I dont know if it was the acting or the role but she really really annoyed me. The actor playing the "slow" brother gave a performance that was insulting to special people everywhere (even in comparison to Cuba Gooding Jr and Sean Penn). I so wanted this to be a bad guy wins movie. The actress who played the mother wasnt bad..i know I have seen her but cant place her name right now

The problem with this TV movie? It isn't trashy enough! Andrea Roth's portrayal of twisted anti-heroine Susan Heller is the saving grace of this tawdry thriller. She alternates sweetness and villainy well but there are times when she could have hammed it up more. I also found the structure of the film amateur. It starts improbably and little background information is revealed. It is not clear why Susan revisits the horse-ranch until more than half-way through. Little is revealed about Susan's mysterious upbringing, leaving her murderous deeds harder to understand. Another problem was the dour performance by the other daughter who was supposed to represent goodness in contrast to Susan's evilness. She was far from sympathetic, allowing Susan to take centre stage. Not the best of its genre.