Stepford the Next Generation
Having previously lived in Stepford with his first wife, Steven Harding (Don Murray) always wanted to return and with his second wife Laura (Barbara Eden) and their two teenage children make the move from the city to Stepford. Whilst Mary and her children, David (Randall Batinkoff) and Mary (Tammy Lauren), feel like they don't fit in Steven loves being back and immediately joins the men's club who are not only up to their old tricks of assimilating their wives into robots but have also turned to assimilating their children into obedient robots as well. When Laura and their children discover what the men of Stepford are up to they must escape especially as Steven plans to assimilate them as well.
I have to be honest and tell you that as of writing I haven't watched the original "The Stepford Wives" and have only watched the 2004 remake, I didn't even realise there had been a few sequels and spin-offs. As such I don't how this compares to the original or fits in with those other movies but it can be watched as almost a stand alone movie with just the basic knowledge of what the men of Stepford get up to when it comes to replacing wives with obedient robot versions.
The thing is that whilst "The Stepford Children" doesn't feel like a comedy it certainly feels tongue in cheek as we have this perfect community where teens are overly polite and dress like they belong in the 1950s. Maybe it is just the contrast of Laura and her children being exceptionally 80s when it comes to looks and attitude makes them feel as extreme as everyone else stuck in the 50s but it certainly feels like it is one extreme clashing with another. In a way it is a good thing that these two extremes end up being entertaining as the whole story of Laura and her children discovering what goes on in Stepford and that they are in danger ends up too obvious and not that thrilling for the simple reason the surprise is not there.
What this all boils down to is that "The Stepford Children" is entertaining but more down to the clash of 80s with the whole perfect 50s community rather than because of the drama which happens.
