The Stepford Children (1987)

What a waste of my time!!!

Purely Joyful Movie!

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Predictable, mediocre, deliberately confusing. What in "The Stepford Wives" was abnormal (the hollow robot housewives) in the conservative society it is normal. In "The Stepford Children" what is normal in a civilized society (good manners, respect, balance aesthetic conception of all that is human: music, language, etc.), is presented as abnormal, and abnormal (bad manners, bad music, lack of culture, ideas, reflection) is presented as desirable. The intention of the film is to flatter the younger audience (already around 1990 were the ones who paid to see this kind of fake art.. and probably in those years began the disastrous film industry that exists today).

In a sequel we already know what's supposed to be happening so any sense of mystery is redundant. And so watching creepy children and women act "strangely" isn't exactly exciting.I also must question the intelligence of turning their children into machines since eventually, the population of the Gentlemen's Club would die, at least some would, there would be no one to continue their bloodline and a suspicious number of purposeless citizens roaming around.So the plot doesn't make sense really and because of the slow pace, it's difficult to watch without noticing the idiot plot. Technically not a bad movie, just a very flawed one.

The third entry in the "Stepford" franchise, but apparently the three made-for-TV obscure sequels are incredibly obscure and hard to trace down, whereas the 70's original as well as the blockbuster remake with Nicole Kidman are commonly known and very popular. I haven't seen either the early 80's "Revenge of the Stepford Wives" or the mid 90's "The Stepford Husbands", but this "The Stepford Children" is a quite charming and highly entertaining little film. It's basically the exact same film as the original; obviously less mysterious yet much cheesier and incredibly 80's to the nth degree. The main difference here, like the title implies, is that not just the liberated wives but also the rebellious and punk teenage offspring in town undergoes the typical and highly effective "Stepford treatment", licensed by the local Men's Association. For some reason the scenario attempts to uphold the Stepford mystery until late in the film, even though nobody is likely to watch this sequel before having checked out the original and presumably everybody also knows about the denouement. The Harding family is all packed and ready to move from the grisly city of New York to the small and peaceful community of Stepford. Particularly father Steven is excited about their new life because he already lived in Stepford and always wanted to go back ever since his first wife, whom his new wife Laura and adolescent children Mary and David know very little about, died under mysterious circumstances. The town is almost too perfect, with picturesque neighbors and model students, and especially the modern teenagers face huge difficulties to adjust. Their efforts to modernize the place and take the local youth of Stanford in tow cause confrontations with the eminent townsfolk, particularly the members of the Men's Association, and put the familial relationships under a lot of stress. David meets and falls in love with the last "normal" girl in school Lois, but when even she transforms into a domestic dummy overnight, David can convince his skeptical mother to investigate the sinister Stanford secret. The first hour of "The Stanford Children" is slow-paced and rather tame, but the finale is trashy and cheesy like the VHS cover promises and like a late 80's thriller ought to be, in fact. The modus operandi behind the Stanford secrets is illustrated in greater detail, and I think horror fans and lovers of the original film will appreciate that. At least, I did. The overall plot still doesn't make a lot of sense and the script is chock-full of irrational aspects, but it's nonetheless an engaging formula and undoubtedly one that evokes an atmosphere of suspense and fear. The acting performances are far above average. Especially the arrogant and obnoxious members of the Men's Association depict plausible characters and even teenage players Tammy Lauren and Randall Batinkoff give away impressive performances. Recommended without hesitation!

You may have serious doubts about watching the third sequel to The Stepford Wifes, but this is an absolute classic. Much scarier in premise than the first, and very entertaining. It only got a video release here in the UK, but should be released worldwide for everyone to enjoy.