Frank Oz won't thank Paramount for re-releasing the original Stepford Wives to coincide with his repackaged remake. For while it's immediately clear that the sexual politics could do with a good spring-clean (it now being technically possible for a woman to wear a bra without turning herself into a sour-faced hausfrau), it's equally apparent that the remainder of this feminist-slanted sci-fi thriller still glints with a striking menace.
It centres on a young wife (Katharine Ross) struggling to uncover the gloomy secret at the heart of her new hometown, a freakishly perfect dollop of suburbia populated by boorish males and their pie-making trophy women. Not quite as textured as Ira Levin's source novel, maybe, but it maintains a quiet unease throughout.
DVD Extras:
Despite a shoot that was beset by rumours of on-set strops, fall-outs and reshoots, the glossy featurettes on the look and realisation of Stepford are bitch-free and sanitised. Oz's obtuse commentary and the "so what?" deleted scenes don't explain the resulting hotch-potch, but the too-short gag reel reveals Kidman's secret giggly side.
