THE STEPFATHER

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Sad evidence of the perennial appeal of square-jawed men who talk nice (in this case he's a serial family killer played by Dylan Walsh), this update of the 1987 cult horror classic is a stone cold dud.

With little back-story, no psychological context, and gaping plot holes screenwriter J.S. Cardone ("Prom Night" - 2008) mucks up his own paint-by-numbers-formula.

After murdering his picture-perfect family, chameleon-psycho David Harris finds easy-pickings in divorcee Susan Harding (Sela Ward), whose reformed bad boy son Michael (Penn Badgley) returns home from a private military school to find his new would-be step dad calling the shots.

That's right, David is not really even a "stepfather" because he and Susan are just shacking up inside her fabulous Portland home. After a couple of obvious murders it's time for Michael and his teen-dream girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard) to confront the papa poseur with a dose of his own violent medicine.

Shallow and inert, "The Stepfather" goes through the motions of a suspense film without ever broaching the horror genre that director Joseph Ruben employed in the original.

Talk about "unclear on the concept," this remake doesn't even get the genre right.

Rated PG-13. 101 mins.

ZERO STARS