When one of your favorite movies ever, one of the few you’ve rated a perfect 10 out of 10, gets not only a sequel, but a TV-movie sequel, your hopes for it can’t be very high. Therefore, because my low expectations were marginally exceeded, I’m probably being generous with Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980.) Still, I’ll own it: I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Revenge of the Stepford Wives is one of those sequels that’s not really a sequel. Sure, the first thing we see are the words, “Stepford. 10 Years Later,” but there are no specific characters from the original story. There’s a new leader of the "men's association," Dale “Diz” Corbett (Arthur Hill), and the technology has advanced. The wives are no longer replicas; they’re simply brainwashed.
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Brainwashing indicates the process can be reversed and that’s basically how the wives are able to enact their revenge and leave us with a more upbeat ending than The Stepford Wives (1975.) I love a bleak 1970s cliffhanger, but there’s something oddly satisfying about watching SPOILER! a bunch of wronged women literally stomping the bad guy to death.
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In most ways, Revenge of the Stepford Wives is one of those sequels that retells the story of the original. Instead of Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) moving to Stepford to start a new life with her husband, Kaye Foster (Sharon Gless) visits Stepford to write a story about why the town has the lowest crime, divorce, and real estate turnover rates in the country.
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Instead of meeting and befriending Bobby Markowe (Paula Prentiss), she meets and befriends Megan Brady (Julie Kavner.) Both characters serve the same purpose: demonstrating the extreme difference between a liberated woman and the male version of a perfect woman. They provide the movies a heartbreaking loss and send Joanna/Kay further on their journeys.
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A good cast helps Revenge of the Stepford Wives. I don’t normally care for Gless, but I like her in this. In fact, I can’t really imagine Angie Dickinson playing Kaye, even though she originally had the role before Gless stepped in at the last minute. Kavner is delightful and funny as Megan and has good chemistry with Gless.
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As for the men, Revenge of the Stepford Wives is probably most famous for featuring Don Johnson in the heavily promoted pre-Miami Vice role of Megan’s husband, Officer Andy Brady. Hill is an appropriate television substitute for Patrick O’Neal and the ubiquitous Mason Adams is terrific as one of the husbands, the morally confused Wally.
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I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that it was directed by Robert Fuest, who made the 1970s theatrical favorites, The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and The Devil’s Rain (1975.) I’ll assume he’s at least partially responsible for bringing a familiar screenplay (by David Wiltse) to life. Revenge is The Stepford Wives-lite, which in this case is perfectly fine.
Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch Revenge of the Stepford Wives and other great movies from this series.
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