‘The Babysitter’ is a teen horror-comedy film the plot follows Cole, (Judah Lewis), as he stays up to see what his Babysitter Bee, (Samara Weaving), gets up to when he goes to bed; what he finds out chills him to the bone. Bee and her friends are devil worshipers and, they are using Cole for his blood. Cole and Bee then enter into a showdown to the death that only one of them can walk away from.
For those of you who read my reviews and, follow me on social media, you know that I find Samara Weaving incredibly annoying; it’s her scream. However, this film does something I didn’t think was possible it made me like her, she was charming and, funny and easily the highlight of the film; throughout the film, you think she is going to turn back to the side of the light, but no she is evil through and, through.
The showdowns between Cole and, his perusers are all excellent they are very reminiscent of, ‘Home Alone’ all of Cole’s weapons are improvised and the deaths are spectacularly gory. They manage to capture the tension of the situation while also remaining comic. The comedy in this film is quite good, it will bring a smile to your face and, warm you, towards the characters.
This film is very stylised think Zack Synder or, Edgar Wright, but turn it up to 100; every chance to have a graphic or, do a cinematography trick is taken. The issue with this is that a lot of the time it takes you out of the film, there was a sequence where the camera was moving around, but also supposed to be doing a POV shot and, the effect is incredibly jarring. There is nothing wrong with a film having style, but if anything this film is overly stylised.
Another thing about this film is that it is completely predictable, but that is okay as this film knows what it is, a pulpy horror B movie homage, and it plays to that. Viewing this film through the lens of it being a homage to horror B movies, makes it a much better film than it actually is. As I don’t think it is a horror B movie homage deliberately.
Overall ‘The Babysitter’ feels like something out of a bygone age, it is over stylised and, it seems to be doing all this to overcompensate for the fact that it isn’t very original. However, it is a nice piece of horror movie junk food and, Samara Weaving is excellent.
Pros.
It’s Good Horror Junk Food.
The Genre Diehards Might Find Something To Like.
Samara Weaving is excellent.
Cons.
It Feels Very Dated.
Overly Stylised.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke