A VIEW TO A KILLER
Break out the marshmallows and call on Father Robinson. 2022's Killer Stepmom is so campy, offhand, and off the reservation, it threatens to become a listicle. "Stepmom" is akin to a lot of other Lifetime flicks that deal with the evil that stepparents do. But its ending is a little more satisfying considering that most of the adversaries in LMN's hitherto get away scot-free. In the words of F. Murray Abraham, "ain't life a mother".
Killer Stepmom is a typical Lifetime-r that clocks in at 90 minutes (with ads you can fast-forward through). The acting is middling to decent with antagonist Susanna (played by Jillian Murray) looking as though she could pass as a high school-er (even though she's actually 37-years-old). Susanna is a homicidal progenitor that defines the term, "a twinkie in the city". Her and the daughter she's terrorizing could be sisters or well, freaking besties (no joke).
So for what it's worth, Killer Stepmom is entertaining enough to please any Lifetime movie fundi (like myself). Its tingling musical score by David Bateman makes "Stepmom" an even more keyed up piece of riffraff than it actually is.
Playing like a gender-reversed version of Domestic Disturbance (with Johnny Travolta and Vince Vaughn), "Stepmom" is about a teenager who witnesses her stepmom murder someone with a crowbar and cement (ugh). The problem is nobody believes her and that includes her dad (the most oblivious dad character ever), the po-po, and initially her mom. Oh and Susanna is pregnant with daddy-o's child. Does this all sound familiar? Well it should if you saw Domestic Disturbance (which I have many times).
Killer Stepmom was released in January and directed by a Lifetime three-timer (Richard Switzer). "Stepmom's" plot is layered as the stepmom in question is a little more than just a psycho on the lam (Susanna launders money, puts people in the slammer, and is also a mysteriously trained pharmacist). It won't "kill" you to at least give Killer Stepmom one viewing.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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