The Babysitter (2017) Horror Movie Review
Written By: JM
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Joseph McGinty Nichol
Writer: Brian Duffield
Producer: McG, Mary Viola, Zack Schiller
Date Released: October 13, 2017
Starring:
Judah Lewis as Cole Johnson
Samara Weaving as Bee
Hana Mae Lee as Sonya
Robbie Amell as Max
Bella Thorne as Alison
Andrew Bachelor as John
Leslie Bibb as Cole’s Mother
Rating = 2/5 graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Cole, a 12-year-old loser who often gets bullied, has a huge crush on his babysitter Bee, one of the coolest teenage girls in town. Bee is popular with everyone and looks like the archetypal fantasy girl in every boy’s dream, but Cole also likes her because she stands up for him against his bullies. One night, curious to know what Bee does when he’s already in bed, Cole decides to stay up and spy on her. What he discovers is something he never expected. Bee has brought a bunch of her teenage friends to their house and together, they brutally kill a nerd and proceed to perform a demonic ritual. Bee discovers that Cole has seen everything, and this sets off a long night of cat-and-mouse chases with a gory outcome.
Gore Factor
The Babysitter (2017) is a ridiculously fun combination of Horror and Comedy. There are a lot of scenes that mix guts, humor, and gore. For example, in one scene, a man falls from the second floor towards a trophy that impales his neck. In another example, someone with breast implants gets shot in her boob and strangely survives. Much of the film is centered towards dark comedic humor when gory scenes are involved. But all of these scenes are done for shock value purposes and in the end, there’s nothing that’s actually disturbing and unsettling.
The Grave Review
The Babysitter (2017) blends the coming of age comedy, complete with bits of raunchy humor, outcast, and plenty of pop-culture punch lines, along with the survival horror film. The plot-twist, while certainly not original, feels energetic. It throws down handfuls of clichés, particularly in the use of its teenage villains intent on hunting down the protagonist, but its understanding of the formulas and clichés makes for some fantastic jokes and the manner that Joseph Nichol uses visual quirks and energy with the often heartfelt performances delivers some genuine laughs and gasps from the audience.
At times, The Babysitter (2017) does slip over a little in getting all of its jokes, scares, tension, and spins to work cohesively. Some of the setups are a bit too obvious and there are a handful of subplots that feel underdeveloped. Fortunately, the charm and energy of the film make up for those in a lot of ways and keeps the entire film moving at a rather good pace that never fails to entertain.
If there’s anything that’s genuinely good about this film, it’s watching Samara Weaving. While her role is largely to make massive doe-eyes and look stunning, occasionally being psycho and waving rifles around, Weaving does a killer job of luring in and making believe the entire façade behind her pretty face. On the other hand, as young Cole, Lewis is commendable, awkward enough to be believable in his geeky role, and yet ballsy enough to end the entire terrifying ordeal with one truly epic usage of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”
Joseph McGinty Nichol delivers a fun and entertaining little horror comedy that fans will certainly be surprised by. Many of the silly jokes weirdly work and the manner that it plays up its tropes with its witty dialogue and spitfire delivery makes it one of those underdog films.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Babysitter (2017) two graves out of five graves.
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