The Babysitter

I watched The Babysitter as part of BCI Eclipse' Drive-in Cult Classics (featuring Crown International Pictures releases) on DVD. I think it is a very good film.

This movie packs a lot of story into a very short time. You have hippies, rock music, bikers, lesbians, sexual impropriety, blackmail, and murder, all in one spot!

The lead actors do a credible job. And, I found the intricately woven plot to be believable and interesting.

However, the supporting cast, primarily the bikers, delivers a stilted performance, particularly when asked to deliver lines with more than just a few words. Perhaps they used real bikers, instead of actors. A couple of the characters, in particular, were exceptionally believable.

The musical score is absolutely spot-on, for the times, the tempo, and for moving the story forward. I found the music a real treat. I noticed in the opening credits that the movie featured the music of "The Food," I googled them; but, couldn't find anything...

In any case, George E. Carey who wrote, produced and starred in this movie liked the idea so much (of a wayward married man brought to redemption through trials and tribulation; and, a little help - of course) that he wrote, produced and starred in "Weekend with the Babysitter."

This familiar story of an older man/younger woman is surprisingly hard-edged. Bikers, hippies, free love and jail bait mix surprisingly well in this forgotten black-and-white indie effort. Lead actress Patricia Wymer, as the titular "Candy," gives the finest performance of her career (spanning all of 3 drive-in epics). Wymer was precocious and fetching in THE YOUNG GRADUATES (1971), but gives a more serious performance in THE BABYSITTER. The occasional violence and periodic nudity are somewhat surprising, but well-handled by the director. Leads Wymer and George E. Carey sell the May/December romance believably. There are enough similarities between THE BABYSITTER and THE YOUNG GRADUATES to make one wonder if the same director helmed the latter film as well. Patricia Wymer, where are you?

Hailing from Seattle, WA, Miss Wymer had appeared as a dancer on the TV rock and roll show MALIBU U, before gracing the cover (as well as appearing in an eight-page spread) of the August, 1968 issue of "Best For Men," a tasteful adults-only magazine. She also appeared as a coven witch in the popular 1969 cult drive-in shocker THE WITCHMAKER.

THE BABYSITTER has finally made its home video debut, as part of the eight-film BCI box set DRIVE-IN CULT CLASSICS vol. 3, which is available from Amazon.com and some retail stores such as Best Buy.

Late 2011 update: the original camera negatives for THE BABYSITTER were found! Code Red released a far superior DVD of the film, mastered from the uncut negatives. It was available via direct mail order with Code Red, and occasionally on Amazon.com.

This Crown-International release was in one aspect out of date when released, since it was in black and white, when that format, even in the B movie world, had pretty much passed on. Though despite the dated appearance of the movie, the filmmakers did manage to pack in a respectable amount of sleaze, including (but not limited to) lesbianism (the movie's two lesbian seduction sequences are unintentionally funny), nudity, sex, and a middle-aged man having an affair with a very young woman. This stuff is kind of fun, but the enjoyment from it is deflated by a very slow moving story that seems VERY padded, even though the running time is only 75 minutes. I personally don't think the movie quite makes it to a recommendation, but others here on the IMDb liked it, so I think this is one case where you'll have to watch the movie and decide for yourself.

"George Maxwell" (George E. Carey) is a mild-mannered Assistant District Attorney who has been given the task of prosecuting a motorcycle gang member for committing the horrific murder of a young woman. His wife, "Edith Maxwell" (Anne Bellamy) has gone completely frigid after having a baby 8 months earlier and as a result George is both lonely and frustrated. It's at this time that Edith hires a sexy babysitter named "Candy Wilson" (Patricia Wymer) who promptly goes about trying to seduce George. At first George is able to maintain his discipline but eventually he succumbs to Candy's charms and things take an immediate turn for the worse after that. Now, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this particular film was one of eight included in a DVD set titled ""Drive-in Cult Classics, Volume 3" which contains motion pictures typically seen at drive-ins in the 60's and 70's. In most cases these movies were at best grade-B offerings meant to partially augment the lack of quality films available to drive-ins during this time. Most of them are low-budget, sexploitation projects and this particular film is no exception. Although filmed in black-and-white, this specific movie has a couple of things going for it which raises it a notch or two higher than some of the other pictures of this type. First, it has the luscious actress Patricia Wymer in a leading role and she practically carries this film all by herself. Additionally, George E. Carey performs in a professional manner which also helps this movie to a lesser extent. In short, while this certainly isn't a great movie by any means, I found it to be satisfactory for the most part, and I rate it as about average.

A teenage babysitter seduces a middle-age assistant DA, causing trouble with his wife, and also causing him to be blackmailed by a biker's girl who wants her guy acquitted of murder charges.

Sure, the flick never rises above cheap exploitation. And I could have done without hints of masochistic sex. Still, the 70-minutes is rather competently made considering its campy genre. The editing is smoothly done, the settings well-chosen, while Carey and Bellamy do well as the quarreling married couple. Even the plot manages a few wrinkles beyond the clichéd teen-age temptress and older man. Too bad Wymer (Candy) looks the part, but has trouble with her lines. There's also a 60's counter-culture subtext where Candy tempts middle-age George with the hippie credo of "free love". George finds this seductive, as did many of his buttoned-down generation. Anyway, for fans of 36-C and 38-D, there's ample exposure. Otherwise, it's drive-in forgettable.