The Babysitter

Just watched this little piece of exploitation and somewhat enjoyed it. Obviously, its a cynical take on the free love era. The idea that a eighteen year old baby sitter would be able to sneak her friends into her employer's house for a groovy band practice while they're away is ludicrous yet pretty damn funny. That she turns out to be a tramp is believable but her vicious side toward the end seems a bit too much. I don't feel like I'm giving too much away by saying this seems almost like the fantasy of a square henpecked lawyer who wants to take advantage of the freedoms of sexual liberation without facing any of the consequences. For some that's the American dream: flouting laws and societal conventions and still getting to keep your job and social standing. For someone like myself who didn't grow up in that era, a lot of its seems alien and laughable at times. Even those riding the crest of the sexual liberation movement were quick to see its downside though. I guess i would prefer this movie too some rosy glasses colored film that really thought peace and love would conquer the world's overwhelming problems. A star rating seems really hard to do with something like this. It has a plot. It has some twists and turns. Overall, its trash but I didn't feel like I'd completely squandered my time.

THE BABYSITTER is a better movie than the title might suggest. Is it a low-budget, drive-in movie from the late 1960's? Yes. Does it feature bikers, nudity, and -egad!- "go-go dancing"? Indeed. However, it's the story that rises above the usual muck.

It's about George and Edith Maxwell (George E. Carey and Anne Bellamy) a middle aged couple who find themselves on the rocks, ever since their new, unexpected child was born. The marital tension is intense, with the wife blaming the husband, who shuts himself off completely.

Enter Candy Wilson (Patricia Wymer), the title character. She's young, pretty, and a very free spirit! In fact, she represents everything that has drained out of the Maxwells' marriage. She also has quite an effect on George.

Of course the aforementioned elements enter the picture, with lurid results. There's revenge, blackmail, and murder.

Still, the movie is solid enough to include the madness and remain watchable...

The Babysitter: A hen-pecked prosecuting attorney begins an affair with his blonde bombshell of a babysitter--the aptly named Candy. Candy, by the way, says things like: "Wow, man--I totally dig you--you really turn me on!" and "Ciao, baby!" Unfortunately, a murder case he's working on involving a motorcycle gang prompts the gang leader's "old lady" to blackmail him for her boyfriend's release. There is also a thin subplot involving the attorney's lesbian daughter. Patricia Wymer is smokin' hot as the bubbly, music-loving not-quite-a-hipster babysitter.

Fun little movie! One of the best in the Drive-In Cult Classics collection.

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.

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."