Wicked Stepmother (1989)

Wicked Stepmother is the kind of scrappy, good-natured Larry Cohen oddity that wins you over with sheer mischievous energy: part domestic farce, part supernatural “what on earth is happening in this house?” spookshow. It’s sassy and brisk, with Barbara Carrera and Colleen Camp leaning into the comedy and paranoia in a way that makes the witchcraft feel less like horror and more like a prank played with sharp nails. The effects are cheerfully lo-fi but imaginative, and the movie’s greatest trick is how it keeps escalating the household havoc without losing its sense of fun. If you need polished fantasy or consistent tone, this may feel like a curio from another era—but if you like your comedy with a wicked grin and a midnight-movie spirit, it’s a blast.

Wicked Stepmother is clearly trying to be a cheeky, supernatural domestic farce—Larry Cohen aiming for that “witches invade suburbia” chaos with a wink. The problem is the movie rarely lands its jokes, and the tone feels oddly scrambled, like it can’t decide whether it’s campy fun, mystery, or outright silliness, so scenes play more careless than clever. If you’re hoping for sharp comedy, coherent plotting, or anything resembling polished fantasy, this will likely test your patience. Still, if you enjoy messy late-’80s oddities with a few spirited performances and the occasional “what on earth were they thinking?” moment, you might find it watchable as a curiosity rather than a crowd-pleaser.