Suspenseful moments in 'The Stepfather'.

In 'The Stepfather' normality was established at the start. the central character is shown showering , shaving and having breakfast ,coffee and toast. He is also shown turning on the radio but this becomes subverted when he is filmed dying his hair and then putting in contacts. The audience begin to question 'Why?' until dead bodies of a women and two children.

There is a false plateau , when a cat jumps out on the 'crazy cat lady'. we are thought it was the killer but the audience is relieved when we find out when it is the cat so we begin to relax.This is when the killer appears so the thrill is maximised because we felt 'safe'.

The bomb theory is used in 'The Stepfather' but used differently. When the central character meets the women ,victims, in the shops the audience knows he is a serial killer but the women do not. The bomb theory is used differently because HE IS THE BOMB!