One of Stephen King’s Favorite Horror Movies of All Time Is Waiting To Be Rediscovered on Free Streaming

It should surprise no one that horror master Stephen King counts several horror films among his all-time favorites, with seven on a list of eight he disclosed to the British Film Institute firmly in the genre (although the eighth, Steven Spielberg's Duel, has a horror element to it). What's interesting, but not all that surprising either, is that the movies on his list lean toward more cerebral fare, like the excellent The Changeling, as opposed to blood-splattered spectacle. A prime example on that list is 1987's The Stepfather, a film with a seemingly simple premise, about a seemingly simple, harmless man. Yet "simple" and "harmless" fare doesn't catch the attention of King, and The Stepfather is anything but. As King described it, "While we’re talking about terrifying men who come from nowhere, there’s The Stepfather, with Terry O'Quinn as the murderous (but charming) psycho looking for a family to love him."

A Monster Hides Behind a Mild-Mannered Facade in 'The Stepfather'

The Stepfather opens on the face of a bloody, bearded man looking in the mirror. He starts to wash the blood off his face and hands, before turning his attention to his hair, leisurely shaving the beard off his face. When he's done, he looks like a consummate professional, and after throwing his belongings in a suitcase, he heads down the hallway, past pictures of him and his family, descends the stairs and past the living room, a blood-soaked tableau where his family lies butchered on the floor. He boards a ferry, and as it crosses the water, he throws the suitcase off the rails.

The next scene sees Susan Maine (Shelley Hack) and her 16-year-old daughter Stephanie (Jill Schoelen) playfully throwing leaves around their yard when they're joined by the unknown man from earlier, Jerry Blake (O'Quinn). Two things are clear: Jerry has married Susan, a widow; and Stephanie doesn't like him. She may not know exactly why she doesn't like him, but we do. What we don't know is what pushed him to murder his family. But we start to get the idea after idle chatter at a yard party turns to the news about a murdered family — make that the family he murdered — after which he retreats to the basement, where he screams maniacally.

It's a violent tantrum witnessed by Stephanie, who is told by Jerry that he was "just blowing off steam." That does nothing to assuage her suspicions, however, and she writes to the newspaper, requesting a copy of the unpublished photo of the suspect. Clever, but not clever enough, as Jerry finds the photo in the mailbox and has it switched out with a copy of Stephanie's deceased father. In the meantime, Stephanie's psychiatrist has his own suspicions, and creates an alias in order to meet Jerry at a home that Jerry, as a real estate agent, is selling. It's here we find out the disturbing truth about "Jerry," as bludgeons the man to death, unwilling to sell a home that is clearly for a family to a single man. Jerry wants that family, the idyllic family, and it doesn't take long to learn that once he's denied it, he'll "reset" and start over with a new one.

'The Stepfather' Features a Brilliant Terry O'Quinn

That the film holds off on revealing Jerry's motivations as long as it does is a masterclass in suspense, turning the tension of the unknown into the fear of what is to come. And each disagreement, each thread that begins to unravel in his family only adds to it, until he starts the cycle anew with a different widow, in a different town, with a different alias. Then it becomes a waiting game for all hell to break loose, and when it does, after his inability to recall who he is in the moment – confirming he's done this many, many times before – it's perfection.

It's the tour-de-force performance by O'Quinn that really makes it work. O'Quinn knows the pacing of the story, of his character, and acts accordingly, so when he does go full maniac, it's been earned. His Jerry Blake is a living light switch, going between the mild-mannered, big-hearted "Jerry" to the truly terrifying "John Smith" and back again in what is, disturbingly, a fully plausible scenario. That his cycle of finding new prey works should be no surprise to anyone who has taken in Netflix's Worst Ex franchise.

But O'Quinn's performance goes even deeper. There's a moment when he finally connects with Stephanie, distraught after she learns about her psychiatrist's death in a "car accident." His eyes are vacant, empty, like it's still not what he needs, but when he catches sight of his ideal – a family where two young girls run out, crying "Daddy's home" in glee, to greet their father, with the mother smiling behind them – his eyes are full, sparkling even, with O'Quinn telegraphing Jerry's emotions, or lack thereof, without saying a single word. The Stepfather earns King's praises with an unconventional, yet plausible, storyline in a suspense-filled film, with a masterpiece performance from Terry O'Quinn, who centers it effortlessly. Even better: it's available to stream for free on Tubi.