The Stepfather (15, 101 mins)
Stars: Dylan Walsh, Penn Badgley, Sela Ward, Amber Heard, Braeden Lemasters, Skyler Samuels, Paige Turco, Sherry Stringfield
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Rating: 2/5

THRILLERS about families in peril are two a penny. Sadly, Nelson McCormick’s remake of a 1987 cult hit isn’t worth a penny.

The Stepfather is a predictable yarn about a wayward teenager, who suspects the new man in his mother’s life is a psychopath.

Dylan Walsh plays the title character with barely concealed malice. It’s laughable that he has eluded the police for so long.

Screenwriter JS Cardone feels the need to telegraph each step along the linear plot, contriving a meeting between man and boy in the basement so we’re primed for a subsequent showdown.

Supporting players happily sign their own death warrants by telling anyone who will listen, preferably the stepfather, that they know he is a charlatan and intend to expose him.

The murder rate in the sleepy corner of Oregon, where the film is set, must be a state record.

Audiences will only be surprised if they fall asleep and are woken by one of the obligatory shocks, like a cat springing out of a darkened closet.