The film tells the tale of New York housewife and photographer Joanna Eberhart, who moves with her lawyer husband Walter (sexy name - not!) and their two kids to the seemingly idyllic rural town of Stepford. Very soon Joanna becomes disenchanted with her surroundings, missing the liveliness of New York. Her feelings of isolation are compounded by the fact that the other women in the town appear content to stay at home for their husbands as loyal house fraus, with no outside interests whatsoever. Also, all new male arrivals in Stepford are invited to join "The Men's Association", an organisation from which the town's women are strictly excluded. Whatever goes on there remains a mystery; the women aren't told.Fortunately Joanna meets the effervescent and rebellious Bobby Marco, another recent arrival in Stepford who shares her concerns about the strange behaviour of the women in the community. Together they decide to set up a consciousness-raising group and rally to get the local women involved...almost to no avail! At the first meeting of the wives, the other women prefer to agonise over the cleanliness of their kitchens and talk about the wonders of "Easy-On" starch spray and baking. One other recruit is found though; a feisty redhead called Charmaine who feels restricted by her husband Ed's demands. However after a weekend away with him, Charmaine returns strangely altered, allowing her hubby to bulldoze her much-loved tennis court and confessing that she all she wanted to do was "please Ed...and boy am I gonna please him". Weird.
Mystified, Joanna and Bobby seek an answer to the zombie-like behaviour of the local women, wondering if "something in the water" might be responsible. They enlist one of Joanna's ex boyfriends, who is a scientist, to help, but this fails to pay dividends. Joanna soon comes to the frightening realisation that the town's wives undergo a change in personality after they have been resident in Stepford for roughly three months... and her time is almost up...
I won't give any more away but this is a thought-provoking and intriguing movie!! Although low on action, the film builds its sense of momentum through a growing feeling of paranoia: are the women in the town somehow being "substituted" for drone-like replacements? Or are all of Joanna's anxieties inside her own head? If you're looking for a fast-moving film you might be disappointed, but the cleverness of the movie lies in its subtlety and the way in which the events take place in a seemingly normal domestic setting.
Another reason for this movie's success lies in the acting. Katherine Ross (also of "The Graduate") puts in an intelligent, sympathetic performance as a woman who feels increasingly hemmed in by the claustrophobia of Stepford, and you really root for her as she feels she might be next on the list for "conversion". Paula Prentiss is great as Bobby, a funny, bubbly and tomboyish character determined not to become "one of those pan-scrubbers" and the rapport between her and Joanna is believable and touching. Given her determination to escape Stepford, Bobby's last few scenes are all the more poignant; I won't say any more but they make for some of the film's best moments! The supporting cast do a good job: amongst these are Peter Masterson as Walter, becoming gradually less supportive of his wife's feelings and fears and more and more influenced by the demands of the "Men's Association"; and Nanette Newman as Carol Van Sant, one of the wives who starts behaving very oddly at a barbecue, continually proclaiming "I'll just die if I don't get that recipe" (!!) Newman's role as a wife is all the more ironic considering all those "Fairy Liquid" adverts she once did (remember?!)
The movie has also attained a kitsch/camp quality over time, mostly due to the fact that it was made in the 1970s! This doesn't spoil the subtler elements to the film, rather makes it all the more entertaining! A large part of the camp appeal is down to the wives themselves - their appearance, behaviour and dialogue. According to this movie, men would like nothing better than to see their wives dressed in frilly blouses (still showing off their assets), flowery dresses and big floppy hats - hilarious. The wives all say things like "I really shouldn't say it, but I just love my brownies" (that's cakes in case you were wondering) and constantly praise their husbands' performances in the bedroom department: "You're the King....you're the Master"!! No comment!
To summarise this is a very enjoyable movie, which, as I have already mentioned, shows the dangers of male fantasies coming true and the perils that women must face having to exist in a patriarchal society. Go buy it...but don't get any ideas about changing your girlfriend...okay?!
Rating: 
Summary: A Menacingly, Creepy Movie with Believable Acting
Review: I fell in love with the beautiful Katharine Ross at age 12 when I first saw a TV Movie sequel called "Wanted, the Sundance Woman" and decided I want to see all of her movies. I always loved Horror/Suspense movies and one night I caught The Stepford Wives on cable. The movie has an above average, almost artsy quality to it, and definitely ranks with some of the best suspense films of all time. Though menacingly slow in the first half, once the second half comes around the movie really takes off. The reason I think the movie struck such a nerve with me was because she, although being a very bright woman as her doctor put it in the movie, played frightened so well.(Check out that scene with her doctor, just plain good acting, she is believable.) This is an actress who always seems to play roles very low key, yet is so effective as if she is playing a very average Joe/Josephine, A REAL PERSON! Prentiss who is also excellent, lends just the right amount of comic relief, in that dept. she is a natural. All the players do fabulously. The story seems to work because, unlike todays movies, it isn't overshadowed by Special Effects, strength is on story and it makes you do a little thinking to try & find out exactly what is going on. Although the movie has by todays standards a downbeat ending, it really is a great ending. The main character gets caught at the end. Not to say I wasn't bummed when she met her doom,(I was really upset) but it doesn't fall into typical Hollywood cliche's by doing this. I grew up in that exact type of town outside of Boston, so the movie hit's home a bit. I'm always glad to hear people make reference to the movie every once in a while, it obviously struck a nerve with the rest of the country when it came out 24 years ago. I always recomend it to people and let them borrow my video whenever. I miss Katharine Ross, and wish she would do more acting, even with her husband. She ranks up there with my favorites, Faye Dunaway, Sally Field and Ellen Burstyn. And that goes ditto for the Stepford Wives, if you appreciate a smart story laced with chills, you'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: 70's Feminism Revisited
Review: "The Stepford Wives" is worth seeing (and for some, owning) and it is good, but I feel somehow it might've been better. The great plus it has going for it is its cast: pretty Katharine Ross; the ebullient and always fun Paula Prentiss; and the Hollywood glamour of Tina Louise (here as red a redhead as you can get), yet still, it's not as superb a sci-fi film as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," for instance. It isn't completely satisfying, to use a cliche and yet fairly apt film review phrase. One of the things that detracts, for me, is the fact that the men are so uniformly unappealing. Obviously this was partially supposed to be the point, but it doesn't work well for me, because at the very least, Katherine Ross' husband should come across as an appealing character who has somehow gotten swept up into the Men's Association mania and changed. At one point, she even says to him, when he calls the Stepford husbands "a nice group of guys,""Are you serious?...That's not me and it's not you." Isn't it? He comes off as a rather obnoxious, self-centered character from the get-go, wanting to "christen" every room in the house, making a comment to another Stepford husband whose wife brings over a "welcoming" casserole, "She cooks as good as she looks" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and basically being domineering in a passive-aggressive way. I couldn't see what attracted her to him, and they seemed to have zero chemistry. The fact that Joanna (Ross) and Bobbie (Prentiss) are commenting about the fact that the babes of Stepford have chosen husbands who are "nothing" is rather an irony, since their own husbands are nothing to write home about. Joanna's husband, moreover, is whiny.
Beyond this, there are some anomalies. What's with the older woman who writes about new women coming to Stepford? Is she representative of the active women's movement that once existed? I know this is in keeping with Ira Levin's novel. And what about the children? What fate will they have with robotic mothers?
The ending is pretty creepy, granted (in fact, individual scenes are great) but I also feel this film unintentionally --at least in retrospect -- sheds another light on feminism, exposing some fears that weren't entirely justifiable. Being a strong feminist myself, I don't want to suggest in any way that feminism wasn't necessary and vital or that the need for it has passed. Heaven knows that women are still back in the Stone Ages in many countries without many rights to speak of. But the hysteria here of suggesting that men would literally turn their wives into robots (even if it is a metaphor for the subservient role that already existed -- the "decorative but mindless" ideal the media has long put out)-- well, it didn't happen, did it? The women's movement did happen and now women are in the boardrooms and fighting to have the luxury of being stay-at-home moms. You can't really have it all, whether you are male or female without some compromise. But, in any case, nothing on this scale in essence happened in our country or society. And if men were looking for ideals, would they choose those peasant dresses and floppy hats? I guess that was 70's chic.
It's message isn't wholly powerful or convincing, maybe that's the problem. What's with the Disney artist? Paranoia about corporations? Was Disney that huge of a corporation in the 70's the way it is now? I thought a Disney artist would be interesting. Oh -- and the Tina Louise character -- irony of all ironies -- has a maid and makes the disparaging comment about her that being from whatever country she is from, makes her good at "serving." Joanna and Bobbie later are shocked and disturbed that Tina Louise has fired her housekeeper so she can do her work herself. I was uneasy that she had the housekeeper to start with! She was as oppressive and condescending in speaking about the woman as the husbands were about their wives.
But in spite of what I consider to be a sense of lacking in this film, it's still a good one. Seeing the women behave as robots is the thriller part and it is very effective. The companionship of Joanna and Bobbie is appealing, and the other "wives" are quite good, especially when they sound as if they are doing advertisements for cleansing products. It has a good musical score, highlighting all that is twisted and unsettling. And some of the dialogue is a hoot. All in all, it's worthwhile and fun to watch -- just not as great as what might have been.
Rating:
Summary: Our Poor Poor Herione
Review: This movie is one of my favorites. One of the reasons it is one of my favorites is because it makes you think. Not to mention paranoid! This movie is about the husbands and wives of Stepford. Where all the men belong to a club where they transform their wives into robots. The robots goal in life is to serve their husbands every need. It transforms the women into cooking and cleaning nymphomaniacs. Joanna, the main character, ( played by the lovely Katherine Ross) finds this a bit odd. In fact all the women who you meet who hasn't been transformed yet do. Her best friend, Bobby, ( Paula Prentiss who I might add is one of the best parts in the movie) and Joanna try to figure out what is happening. The transformation seems to happen to the women within living four months in Stepford. Towards the end Joanna begins to realize that her time is almost up. When she sees Bobby ,who came to Stepford only a month before she did, get affected. She sees that she has got to take action and NOW! She is now the only wife in town who isnt a obsessive compulsive cleaning cooking sex machine. She goes to see a therapist to ask for help and wisely the therapist advices her to " GET YOUR CHILDREN AND GET THE HELL OUT!!!!!!". When Joanna returns for her children she finds that her husband is now like the rest of the men of Stepford. When she thinks that the children are at Bobby's house she goes there to collect them. They are not there. Joanna runs a little test she stabs Bobby with a knife! Bobby does not bleed no t one drop! Joanna runs home and forces her husband to tell her where the children are and he gives her an address. When she gets there she finds the head of the mens club. She asks him "why are you doing this?". He answers "because we can". That really gives you a blow that they dont have a better reason for doing this but that they can. In the end you see all the Stepford wives shopping at the grocery store for food to serve their husbands. And sadly Joanna is there too. But it probs me to wonder is that really a robot? We see the robot before the supermarket scene we see " Joannas clone" and her eyes are pitch black with no pupils whatsoever. So maybe we hope that she really did escape and is just living as a Stepford wife for the time being until she can escape. We can only hope this for our poor poor herione.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating, scathing, haunting tale set in the suburbs.
Review: Just as much as New York City is a major character in Rosemary's Baby (1968), a tale also conceived by Ira Levin, the elegant suburban village of Stepford (completely fictional, though it feels oh-so-real!) is also a major character in the story of the undoing of Joanna Eberhart [Katharine Ross - The Graduate], loving mother, avid photographer and horrified housewife.
As Paula Prentiss's astonishing performance as kooky and lovable Bobbie Markowe gives colour and fun to the story, you can see something even more sinister underlying the serene tree-lined streets and gracious homes that are the setting of this nightmaresque movie, as seen by Bryan Forbes, who made a craft of creating serenely unnerving and haunting films.
There'll always be from now on, a woman we'll come to know as the Stepford Wife.
Rating:
Summary: I'll just die if I don't get this recipe
Review: The "Stepford Wives" is every man's fantasy and every feminist's nightmare come to life. Based on the book by Ira Levin, the film is a commentary on the social roles of men and women within society, taken to the extreme.
The film tells the story of Joanna Eberhart (Katherine Ross), a wife and mother, who is being reluctantly uprooted from her home and career as a photographer in New York City, to a quiet little community known as Stepford.....a suburban Garden of Eden, seemingly picture-perfect in every way. Although unhappy, Joanna gamely attempts to make this new life work for the sake of her husband and children. She even plays the dutiful hostess for the local men's club, which her husband, Walter, is joining. It isn't long however, before Joanna begins to suspect that something is not quite right about the town and it's inhabitants, especially the women, who seem to have absolutely no aspirations other than being the perfect housewife and mother.
Fortunately, Joanna finds an ally in the form of Bobbie Marco (Paula Prentiss), also a new arrival in town, who shares Joanna's distaste for her surroundings. Together, the two women attempt to bolster the local women toward higher ambitions than that of cooking, cleaning, and beauty tips. All to no avail.
As the film progresses, Joanna and Bobbi become increasingly convinced that something sinister is going on here and are determined to get to the root of the matter. After Bobbi returns from a weekend get-away with her husband, Joanna is horrified to find that Bobbi has become like all the rest of the wives. Only then does Joanna stumble upon the town's terrible secret.
The film's climax is effectively disturbing and doesn't sell-out for the "happily ever after" ending that so many films do. Then again, depending on your viewpoint, maybe it does. A thought provoking film, it raises the questions of how men and women view each other and what it is that they want and expect from the opposite sex as well as what are the "perfect" qualities which make up a mate.
The performances are generally good all around with Paula Prentiss providing the bulk of the comic relief in the movie. Her character is the antithesis of the perfect housewife and is not shy about showing her dislike for all things domestic. A very young Mary Stewart Masterson makes her screen debut here as one of Joanna's two daughters.
The Silver Anniversary Edition DVD is a high quality product and includes a widescreen format, interviews with director Bryan Forbes, Producer Edgar J. Scherick and cast members Katherine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Nanette Newman and Peter Masterson. It also contains the theatrical trailer, radio spots, talent bios, and a language selection.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I've always loved Ross and she did great in this film. I think the cast was great here along with the story. Some might find it kind of "cheesy" today but a few parts scared me as a kid and still give me the creeps today as an adult. I find that this is a cult classic that holds up fairly well today. The new remake won't be as good but modern remakes usually don't have the vision of the originals
Rating: 
Summary: I agree with Chuckju
Review: I bought this title on-line from Amazon. It would not play. I returned it for another. Same problem. Apparently, according to customer reviews; those discs that do work are sub-standard anyway. For now, I'll stick with my widescreen VHS version - which looks damn good. I would like to have experienced those great extras though.
Rating: 
Summary: The Stepford Wives Siver Anniversary Edition
Review: Although not number one among horror films, this is a classic psychological thriller of looking for perfection and finding perfection in one self. The movie is also a mystery with the main character tries to solve before suffering same fate as her new town's other women. This movie use to air every Halloween when i was growing up in the 1970s and I never missed it. I only wish that Revenge of the Stepford Wives and The Stepford Children; whch I love equally would come to DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: I've always loved Ross and she did great in this film. I think the cast was great here along with the story. Some might find it kind of "cheesy" today but a few parts scared me as a kid and still give me the creeps today as an adult. I find that this is a cult classic that holds up fairly well today. The new remake won't be as good but modern remakes usually don't have the vision of the originals
