The Stepfather

A man who marries under a new identity in a new town is trying to build a perfect family life. His stepdaughter suspects him and nobody believes her. The film gets its tension from expectation rather than threat: he does not rage, he simply notices the family failing the ideal, and that leads to the same outcome every time. The narrative aims directly at fifty years of family ideology. Joseph Ruben directed. Terry O'Quinn stars and it is the role he is most remembered for. It draws on a real murder case. A real warning: there is murder inside a family and a threat to a teenage girl. The violence is not very graphic and the threat is constant.