DORABLE flick fan, you deserve to know that The Stepfather is a rehash of the 1987 horror-thriller of the same name.

That's Hollywood for you. The world's movie capital is littered with lazy capitalistic buggers who spend most of their lives searching the archives for movies that were box office hits and then bringing them back to life in the clumsiest of ways.

The 1987 version still gets my edge-of-the-seat vote - hire the DVD if you can and watch it before you see the 2009 version.

But maybe it's a good idea not to see the earlier film to avoid being disappointed by this year's version.

Dylan Walsh is David Harris, a stepdad from deep hell and he's not going to be outdone - not any time soon.

And hell, yeah, he's pretty smooth and as evil as Lucifer.

From the outset the man's just too good to be true - and that's enough - before I give his devious plan away.

Harris is a doctor who is sick in the head and he's beyond redemption. He preys on unsuspecting love-hungry, attractive and financially stable single women with children.

I'm sorry to break your heart but I expect him to make a return in a sequel, possibly to be called The Stepfather 2 - as The Stepfather ends with Harris working in another town under a different name and meeting his next victim - a woman with kids.

We all know how every kid needs a father figure when growing up with a single mom.

But that's not the case when Susan Harding (Sela Ward) introduces her son Michael (Penn Badgley) to Harris (Walsh) when Michael comes home from military school.

Michael, with the help of his girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard), her buddies Leah (Sherry Stringfield) and Jackie (Paige Turco), and his biological father Jay (Jon Tenney), learns that Harris doesn't just take advantage of single moms - he's also a cold-blooded murderer.