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Rating: 3 out of 5
Sometimes a movie comes along that you wonder about. After watching it, you go, “That’s not that bad and was quite entertaining.” A film about a babysitter. Some of us had babysitters. What was yours like if you can remember? Were they strict, fun, cool, or annoying?
Directed by McG and delivered to the world through Netflix, The Babysitter is a dark, funny throwback comedy that has all the elements of what makes horror movies bad. The ones where you look and some scenes and go, “What were you thinking?” You know the scenes: being chased and hiding in some room when you could be hauling ass somewhere else. Or all the stereotypical characters where you pretty much know who is going to die. This movie is so funny and crazy that it is actually terrific. It has the crude sexual jokes, deaths that are so out there all you can do is shake your head, cheerleaders, jokes, the token black man, explosions, cute girls, bikinis, fast cars, insane parents, bullies and a book of rituals. Starting to get the picture.
The movie follows Cole Johnson (Lewis). Cole is an introverted twelve-year-old who is bullied by his neighbor, Jeremy (Harvey), and is a 100% nerd. Cole is the only twelve-year-old who still has a babysitter. Cole has a crush on his very, very, very beautiful babysitter, Bee (Weaving). If you see Bee, you would know why Cole has a huge crush on her, but also her personality wins him over. Bee is funny, popular and does everything that Cole like as in the movies he likes and the games they play with each other. The primary game they have is picking characters for their intergalactic fantasy feuds and who they would have on their teams.
One weekend, his parents decided to head off for the weekend. While away,
Cole and Bee play space feuds, eat pizza, reenact one of the most impressive cowboy martial arts scenes and have a “drink” to finish off the night before his bedtime. Being peer pressured by his cute neighbor and best friend, Melanie (Lind), Cole sneaks out of his room to watch Bee play spin the bottle with her friends. Bee’s friends consist of high maintenance cheerleader Allison (Thorne), football jock Max (Amell), the only brutha John (Bachelor), Asian Goth girl Sonya (Lee), and big-time nerd that seems out of place Samuel (Doug Haley). The group decides to change the game and play truth or dare. After Bee is dared to kiss everyone that has a very hot and turned on kiss between Bee and Allison. Bee moves to Samuel. As she is about to kiss him, all hell literally breaks loose when Bee reveals herself to be the leader of a Satanic cult and in need of the blood of the innocent and the blood of the sacrifice. Cole realizes that he is the blood of the innocent and must either fight or die. How will this kid survive the night?
Where do we begin with reviewing this movie? Oh, the places and areas to talk about. First, the film is actually really good. It’s pretty light-hearted that turns into an epic nightmare for the kid. What the movie does very well is that even though people are trying to kill Cole, it is pretty funny all around. There are no jump scares or anything that will terrify a person. You can tell that this movie doesn’t take itself seriously, and it works pretty well. There are a ton of horror films that you can find that are far worse than this one. You can even find funny horror movies that are on the same level. Think of this movie as Scary Movie but before all the sequels. This film actually has a decent plot. The one thing that might get people is the gory death scenes. Not quite the Saw levels but overall pretty brutal. Some will make you wince just a tad bit while watching them.
What is actually really quite unique is watching the movie unfold through Cole. How many times have we seen the babysitter just get destroyed by the killer? If you’re a babysitter in a horror movie, it might be a great idea for you to find a new job. This movie actually shifts the focus where the babysitter is the killer. Someone got tired of watching kids and said enough is enough. Yet, when things come to Cole, you can tell that Bee and Cole have a powerful connection. That she was trying not to kill Cole and avoid that possibility.
Why this movie works so well is that the characters are not the brightest. There are dumb decisions, and then there are some that will make you scratch your head. When Max is chasing after Cole to kill him, and he actually catches him. Max takes the time to be a nice guy and help Cole deal with his bully Jeremy because he heard him egging his house. What villain does that? Or how Sonya is really strange. The whole feeding Cole a cookie is quite funny, yet the way she dies is pretty crazy. Then there is Allison, and her stuff is pretty crazy. Actually, it’s quite entertaining.
Almost all the characters are beyond their stereotypical self, and the cast plays into their roles so well. Thorne, as the high maintenance cheerleader, is quite good. You can’t tell if she is smart or an airhead. Amell plays Max as if you see the high profile Jock in high school. Pretty much a cover boy that for some reason is really strong and runs around with his shirt of but is the most violent one. Lewis is actually really great as Cole. He is the nerd, and when he kisses his best friend, that awkward, “Ok, bye” is beyond perfect. Weaving as the Bee is great. She isn’t the ditzy blonde but one that is actually strong and knows she is hot. Finally, Bachelor is by far the best and most entertaining one of the whole movie. Not even close to Academy Award performance, but his jokes are spot on and will leave you cracking up.
What more can I say about the Babysitter? It is a movie that you can watch when you are bored and not be scared. It is a pretty fun and entertaining film that will have you laughing more than cowering under the bedsheets. It is definitely a stupid, bloody but enjoyable movie. Might change the way you look at babysitters.
