The events of one evening take an unexpected turn for the worst for a young boy trying to spy on his babysitter.
Although I had a number of other films lined up for this glorious Friday the 13th, it was an email notification from Netflix that helped The Babysitter steal my attention for this evening's midnight feature.
The Babysitter is best described as an R-rated Home Alone. It's outrageous, hilarious and grossly entertaining. It is a dark comedy that seamlessly blends an unusual coming of age story with a reversed slasher flick. It tries to recapture the campy fun of those late-nineties films like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Urban Legend — and for the most part, it succeeds.
The soundtrack is fun, energetic and sometimes a little excessive, which works well when coupled with equally playful editing (like the on-screen text) and bold, bizarre characters. The film is over-the-top in its essence, with a copious amount of bloodshed, bullet wounds, bombshells, and bodies; both buff and beautiful. The murderous teens are a collection of psychopaths and serial killers looking to harness the power of evil by spilling the blood of the innocent — What's not to love?
Samara Weaving steals the majority of the attention as the wild and carefree Bee. The blood-loving babysitter is pitted against our nerdy protagonist, Cole, who was skillfully portrayed by soon-to-be heart-throb, Judah Lewis. Bee's crew of murderous comrades include the talents and well-known faces of Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor and the ever-popular Robbie Amell, whose hilarious performance as killer quarterback, Max, was very reminiscent of Christian Bale's American Psycho.
Aside from the very blatant plot holes and impossibilities that plagued the film, director McG very much managed to capture the essence of the nineties slasher-flick and has crafted a delicious black comedy that is fresh, funny and first-rate. This film is perfect to watch with a group of buddies or for a good session of Netflix and chill. I can’t recommend it enough — just remember that it’s more a black comedy than a horror flick. Full stars from me. Check out the trailer below.
