Stepfather 3

"Daddy's been working in the garden... again!"

1992 1h 50m EN

😐

5.4

MID

★5.4TMDB · 58

HorrorThrillerTV Movie

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After escaping a Puget Sound institution, "Stepfather" Gene Clifford alters his appearance with plastic surgery and takes on another new identity: Keith Grant. Moving to Deer View, California, Keith falls for a divorced school principal, arousing the suspicions of her wheelchair-bound, computer-savvy son.

“Daddy's been working in the garden... again!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon Prime VideoSubscription

fuboTVSubscription

PhiloSubscription

AMC+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

Shudder Amazon ChannelSubscription

Screambox Amazon ChannelSubscription

FlixFlingSubscription

Shudder Apple TV channelSubscription

Amazon Prime Video with AdsSubscription

Midnight Pulp Amazon ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

FlixFlingRent

FlixFlingBuy

Cast

Robert Wightman
Keith Grant / The Stepfather
Priscilla Barnes
Christine Ann Davis
Season Hubley
Jennifer Ashley
David Tom
Andy Davis
John Ingle
Father Ernest Thomas Brennan
Dennis Paladino
Mr. Thompson
Stephen Mendel
Mark Wraynal
Jay Acovone
Steve Davis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Guy Magar
Writers: Marc B. Ray, Guy Magar
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Stepfather Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Guy Magar, shot by Alan Caso. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Pat Regan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Patrick Gregston shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Wightman and Priscilla Barnes and Season Hubley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Guy Magar directs. Alan Caso behind the camera. Pat Regan scores. Patrick Gregston cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Part of the "The Stepfather Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Guy Magar, shot by Alan Caso. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Pat Regan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Patrick Gregston shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Robert Wightman and Priscilla Barnes and Season Hubley carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Daddy's been working in the garden... again!".
10IMDB entry: tt0105470 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 58 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alan Caso
Original score: Pat Regan
Editing: Patrick Gregston
Production design: Richard B. Lewis
Costume design: Judie C. Champion
Makeup / hair: Heidi Seeholzer
Sound: Ross Davis
Stunt coordinator: Jon Conrad Pochron
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,800,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Stepfather 3 (1992)

Part of

The Stepfather Collection

The Stepfather is a 1987 American thriller film starring Terry O'Quinn in the title role. It is loosely based on the life of mass murderer John List, although the plot is more commonly associated with slasher films of the era than a true story. It was directed by Joseph Ruben and written by Donald E. Westlake, from a story by Westlake, Carolyn Lefcourt and Brian Garfield. This film was met with critical acclaim upon its release. The film was also followed by two sequels, released in 1989 and 1992 respectively and a remake also called The Stepfather which was released on October 16, 2009.

Also by

Guy Magar

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-02-08
By now we must know this man isn’t going to die! Only this time, well he has - sort of. Terry Quinn clearly read the script and decided to sit this out, ergo “Jerry” now becomes “Keith” (Robert Wightman). He has escaped from a not so high-security institution, had some plastic surgery and headed for the unsuspecting “Davis” family. That’s mom “Christine” (Priscilla Barnes) and her wheelchair-bound, terrapin-keeping, young son “Andy” (David Tom). It’s actually the latter character who begins to smell a rat as his new father makes a few slip ups which he confides to local priest (John Ingle). Sadly, though, his dog-collar proves little protection as the growing body count takes us nicely to a finale in a nursery equipped with loads of shears, pitch-forks, hoes and one those industrial-scale tree shredders. Sadly, nobody thought to put the script in there first, and/or the notes from the casting session as for almost two hours we are subjected to something feeble and predictable. For horror to work, I think, it has to be vaguely plausible but here the whole scenario is nonsense from start to finish. This wasn’t a very strong franchise to start with, but by now we are well and truly squeezing the dregs from an idea that should never have got off the (very small) drawing board. The denouement is actually not just ridiculous but I also think quite philosophically dangerous too, but to be honest I can’t recommend that you ever get anywhere near that far.

Production companies