How suspense created in Stepfather

The film 'Stepfather' is filled with scenes of tension and suspense, they are mostly all created by the use of false plateau and bomb theory.

Normality

In the very first scene there is a sense of normality as a man goes through his daily routine of showering,shaving, dying his hair, putting in contact lenses and having breakfast. However when the man places his cup of coffee in the sink, the camera shows bloody knifes and tools in the sink beside it. The camera also shows family members on the floor surrounded by christmas decorations whilst silent night eerily plays in the background. At this point the audience is aware that this man is the murderer and the bomb in the film. The audience is also aware of why the man was dying his hair and trying to change his appearance which also tells the audience he has had experience of this before.

False Plateau

False plateau is also frequently used. An example of this is when David the serial killer sets off to murder Mrs. Cutter. Her doorbell rings, and the audience think it's David the murderer, when she opens the door however no one is there, so the audience assume he's already in the house, when the woman turns around she is suprised by her cat that jumps out and scares her, this scares the audience also but is a relieve as it's not him, then he appears.

Bomb Theory

An example of bomb theory used is the last scene of the film, when he meets the women in the supermarket. The audience know he's a serial killer, yet the new family who's life he's about to enter does not, they think what the audience also believed at the start of the film.