The scariest thing about this horror tale is the fact that it really happened.
Distractible Stevie Stayner has the terrible misfortune of crossing paths with phony pastor Parnell, who has manically decided, "I'm gonna get me a kid for Christmas!"
So the innocent 7-year-old is whisked from the streets of Merced, CA, to a canyon 25 miles away, leaving his devastated family in a hell of its own, dreading Stevie's fate.
Early on, dad Del is hopeful, saying, "He'll turn up, he always does." And, by the end of Part 1, we see to our amazement that he's been prescient. But we're left to view awful suffering in the interim. As Stevie laments, "I don't want to stay overnight! I want to go home!"
Before long, Parnell has succeeded in brainwashing the boy, convincing him that his father has died, his mom moved away, and his siblings spun off to foster homes -- "I'm your dad now. Your new name is Dennis."
Wikipedia reveals that Stevie had a few years of freedom before getting killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989, aged only 24, while his captor enjoyed 19 more years of life, albeit in prison, for another crime, dying at age 76, in 2008.
"Teach your children well," Crosby, Stills, and Nash sang two years before this film came out. How wise. Let's pray our kids stay safe.
Distractible Stevie Stayner has the terrible misfortune of crossing paths with phony pastor Parnell, who has manically decided, "I'm gonna get me a kid for Christmas!"
So the innocent 7-year-old is whisked from the streets of Merced, CA, to a canyon 25 miles away, leaving his devastated family in a hell of its own, dreading Stevie's fate.
Early on, dad Del is hopeful, saying, "He'll turn up, he always does." And, by the end of Part 1, we see to our amazement that he's been prescient. But we're left to view awful suffering in the interim. As Stevie laments, "I don't want to stay overnight! I want to go home!"
Before long, Parnell has succeeded in brainwashing the boy, convincing him that his father has died, his mom moved away, and his siblings spun off to foster homes -- "I'm your dad now. Your new name is Dennis."
Wikipedia reveals that Stevie had a few years of freedom before getting killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989, aged only 24, while his captor enjoyed 19 more years of life, albeit in prison, for another crime, dying at age 76, in 2008.
"Teach your children well," Crosby, Stills, and Nash sang two years before this film came out. How wise. Let's pray our kids stay safe.