A passable sequel to the excellent, sleeper hit that preceded it, this film steers its story in a cartoonish, less horrific direction.
Terry O'Quinn returns as the nameless family man who butchered one nuclear unit and was on his way to dispatching another when he was (seemingly) fatally stabbed. It turns out that he wasn't killed after all but was captured and sent to the loony bin. Now the deranged control freak has murdered his jailers and escaped from the institution. Establishing himself in a small, idyllic town as a family counselor, he thinks that he's found the perfect candidate for a family in Carol (
Meg Foster), the real estate agent who lives across the street, and her son Todd (
Jonathan Brandis), who adores his mom's new boyfriend. Unfortunately, Carol's irresponsible husband shows up unexpectedly after abandoning his family -- plus nosy neighbors and a variety of others who stand as obstacles in the Stepfather's path to perfection. The first film,
The Stepfather (1987), by writer Donald E. Westlake was very loosely based on the real-life story of long-time fugitive John List, lending the film an eerie, skin-crawling air of psychological authenticity that this sequel entirely lacks. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide