STEPFATHER III

Priscilla Barnes and Robert Wightman

STEPFATHER III (1992 made for cable movie). Director: Guy Magar.

The psychotic stepdaddy from Stepfather and Stepfather II escapes yet again from an asylum (this is not shown) and has a discredited plastic surgeon give him a new face (after which he dispatches him, of course). Now known as Keith Grant (Robert Wightman), the psycho again manages to get a very nice house in a wonderful neighborhood. (One also has to wonder where he got the money to pay the surgeon.) As usual, he sets his sights on a divorcee, Christine (Priscilla Barnes), with a young son (David Tom) in a wheelchair. The boy suspects that there's something "off" about Keith and teams up with a reluctant priest (John Ingle), to find out all he can about him.

David Tom and Robert Wightman

When the son goes off to stay with his father and attend a special computer school, Keith sees his dreams of a perfect family falling apart, and zeroes in on a widow, Jennifer (Season Hubley), who also has a young son. It's fun in a sick sense watching Keith juggle both women who could run into each other at any moment and finally do, leading to an exciting climax wherein both ladies are imperiled and the allegedly crippled boy comes to the rescue. It could be argued that Stepfather III is just another dip in the well, but there are enough variations and enough suspenseful situations to make this work. Wightman is fine as a kind of demented overgrown boy scout and the others in the cast play with veracity, especially young Tom. 

Verdict: Could give stepfathers a bad name! ***. 

THE PERFECT ASSISTANT

THE PERFECT ASSISTANT (2008 telefilm). Director: Douglas Jackson. 

Rachel Partson (Josie Davis) is an excellent assistant to ad exec David Westcott (Chris Potter) but she's harboring a secret. She is so pathologically in love with the man that she's willing to resort to anything, including murder, to have him for herself. This quite entertaining teleflick gets across the anguish, hope and delusional state of unrequited love so strongly that you almost find yourself feeling sorry for a woman who is otherwise not very sympathetic. It doesn't hurt that Josie Davis gives a terrific performance as the sociopathic assistant. The premise of a deranged woman out to get a man by any means necessary is a popular and familiar one, but The Perfect Assistant is one of the better films on the subject. Rachel Hunter plays one of Westcott's associates. 

 Verdict: Absorbing and suspenseful. ***.

PIRANHA (1995)

William Katt and Darleen Carr

PIRANHA (1995 telefilm). Director: Scott P. Levy.

A writer named Paul Grogan (William Katt) and a private eye named Maggie (Alexandra Paul) look for a wealthy developer's missing daughter. Fearing that the young lady and her boyfriend might have drowned in a pool at an abandoned complex, Maggie drains the water, and inadvertently unleashes a horde of voracious, razor-toothed, foot-long piranha who begin devouring everything in their path (but not each other -- huh?) Paul and Maggie try to stop the critters from reaching a camp where his daughter is staying, as well as a new resort that is scheduled to open that day. 

William Katt

Piranha is a scene-by-scene made-for-cable remake of the original 1978 movie, which was no great shakes to begin with. The most effective scenes in the original are also the most effective in the remake: for instance when the fish nibble away at the ropes holding the raft together as Paul and the others sail down the river. The film is a bit bloodier than the original, and attack sequences, especially on children, are still disturbing (but not nearly as atrocious and ugly as the massacre scene in yet another remake Piranha 3D). William Katt of Carrie fame gives a good performance, although he doesn't make as much of an impression as Brad Dillman in the original. Conversely, Alexandra Paul is more effective and less "cutesy" than Heather Menzies in the '78 version -- her acting definitely got better after Christine. In a sex switch, Darlene Carr is good as the disturbed scientist who has created the deadly breed of killer fish and sacrifices herself to save a child. Monte Markham plays the greedy developer whose daughter becomes fish food in the opening sequence. 

Verdict: Unnecessary remake. **. 

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK

Carol Kane 

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (made-for-cable telefilm/1993). Co-writer/director: Fred Walton. 

A babysitter named Julia (Jill Schoelen) is watching her two charges when a man comes to the door and tells her his car has broken down. Julia is smart enough not to let him inside, but when she offers to phone for assistance, she discovers the phone is out of order. Afraid to tell him this, she lies and says she's made the call. Then things get much worse. The suspenseful prologue of this film possibly out-creeps the prologue in the first film, When a Stranger Calls. 

Jill Schoelen

As in the first movie, the scene then shifts five years into the future, when Julia fears she is being stalked by that man outside the house, who disappeared along with the children. Two people who believe her story and come to her aid are Jill Johnson (Carol Kane,) who has her own babysitting horror story to tell, and private eye John Clifford (Charles Durning), who came to Jill's assistance in When a Stranger Calls. Jill is convinced that every weird thing that's happened to Julia is real, but John is a little more skeptical. Both agree, however, that the man or men who terrorized her five years before have to be tracked down. But is this mysterious figure tracking them down as well?

Gene Lythgow

When a Stranger Calls Back is arguably better than, and certainly just as good, as the original. Walton doesn't just replay the prologue of the first film, but comes up with some new twists, and the storyline that follows is also different from the original movie. The sequel is a bit slow at times, but it is atmospheric and never shakes its sense of dread. One scene in a hospital is especially creepy, and the exciting climax is also noteworthy. The performances are good -- this includes Gene Lythgow in an important role --  but as in the first film, I wish the characters had been better developed. Although Kane had a husband and children in the first film, they are not even referred to in passing in the sequel -- she even uses her maiden name -- and we never learn all that much about Julia or her stalker. There are also some annoying loose ends. However, the film is still entertaining and suspenseful, and the eeriness is abetted by the photography of David Geddes and the score by Dana Kaproff.

Verdict: Worthwhile sequel is creepy and disquieting. ***.