Alternate Best Actor 1987: Terry O'Quinn in The Stepfather

Terry O'Quinn did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, for portraying Jerry Blake or is it Henry Morrison or is it Bill Hodgkins, well maybe you should just call him the titular Stepfather.

The Stepfather is a pretty schlocky horror film, but there is a reason I'm writing about it.

That reason should be evident enough as we have an example of a talented then relatively unknown actor in Terry O'Quinn picking up a leading role in what is a film without any higher ambitions. O'Quinn though is perhaps operating on some alternate level seeking to give this film all he's worth, even if the film itself isn't worth a lot with its often ridiculous plot, stilted dialogue, and downright hilarious choices in terms of the use of score. O'Quinn's performance is well worth watching on every front. Now on one end there is the idea of creating a proper "monster" for the film and in this sense O'Quinn is brilliant. On the main surface we have his Jerry Blake the new family man seeking to ingratiate himself as a proper stepfather. O'Quinn plays this side with a father knows best sort of voice that is just wonderful with the artifice in just how "perfect" he makes it. O'Quinn's delivery is just primed with this level of sweetness as he woos his new wife Susan, and tries to make good with his skeptical stepdaughter Stephanie. O'Quinn's whole demeanor is just of this super guy in every way, a friend to everyone with his welcoming smile, and cheerful attitude that extends both to his family and all of his customers a realtor. O'Quinn makes Jerry just everything he should be as a great friend to all especially this new family of his.

Of course from the outset of the film we know this is a thin veneer as in the opening of the film where "Jerry" cleans himself up, and marches out of a home having massacred all within. O'Quinn is great in this wholly silent scene actually by how he performs the moment. As we see the man literally naked, but also metaphorically so as he builds up his new "stepfather" after disposing of the old. O'Quinn brings the appropriate intensity within his eyes fitting for a killer yet is especially chilling by the way he so methodically plays each moment of the scene. O'Quinn brings this devotion to his performance that is what actually delivers something far more eerie to the scene. He doesn't play it so callously as though it is nothing at all for the man to do this. O'Quinn rather makes it almost this ritual in the palatable emotional undercurrent of he brings to the transformation as he shows the man remaking himself. O'Quinn fully embodies this almost as this religious experience as he goes from this demented psychopath who "reforms" himself in this state of calm as he becomes a new man.

The film then gets into its plot which is rather dull and often repetitive. O'Quinn though is consistently compelling in the role of the family who occasionally descends into a madness when alone or killing someone. Again O'Quinn is fantastic in both sides and his portrayal of the mental breakdown scenes are particularly marvelous. They would be easy moments to go way over the top with but O'Quinn delivers towards these extremes without going too far. His performance rather matches the sheer mania of it all in his way of speaking the nonsense of a man who is essentially is of multiple minds going at once. He brings this force to the mania that is chilling, but never does he become ridiculous in this approach. O'Quinn tries, and does not wholly fail to bring some depth to the character through even when he's saddled with some rather awful lines. This is especially the case in the third act when he becomes the slasher killer, and is given some one liners like "Next time Jim, Call before you drop by" after literally dropping the man by killing him. O'Quinn deserves all the credit for not becoming altogether goofy even when saying goofy things. He speaks even those words with a real conviction, and sells them as the film desires even if it isn't best for what it seems like he trying to do with the rest of his performance. That being an attempt an actual examination of the demented psyche of the man. O'Quinn is excellent in these moments where he grants more than silliness to the central idea of this man longing for a family. In a moment where we see him watching another happy father, O'Quinn is genuinely moving in granting such an honest need in "Jerry's" eyes as he looks to the thing he wants most but cannot have. His conviction to this idea even comes through in the stupid finale in his final lines. O'Quinn's last line of "I love you" to the stepdaughter who has just stabbed in the heart, is again of one of earnest need rather than a glib statement. The film isn't anything more than you'd expect it to be, but Terry O'Quinn gives a terrific performance far beyond what you'd expect in such a film. And I will give credit to the general critical examination of the film at the time for recognizing his work even when most, properly, bemoaned the film. He seems to derive everything can from the role to a give far more complete portrait of this psychopath than the film devised or even desired.