Babysitter Wanted

"Babysitter Wanted" was a nice surprise. I thought 'why not?'when I saw the DVD cover. I was expecting a 'D'- rated flick & got a good twist on the babysitter theme of the 70's/80's.

A first year college student, in need of money, answers a posting for a babysitter out at a farm. All the events, up to her arrival at the farm seemingly follow the 'babysitter theme' viewers are so familiar with. Once she is left alone to do her job, that's when the theme takes a turn. It wasn't what I had expected.

The actress playing college student Angie, lacked credibility, but I overlooked it, as this was schlock. I was creeped out by the child actor. The actor playing the father was a refreshing treat. It's not perfect, but worth a look, for horror's sake.

This movie starts off with a lot of horror clichés like fake scares, the dark stranger in the shadows, the clean cut innocent girl and the love interest, and for the first 45 minutes it goes along that way until a little twist that you kind of don't see coming. Then the movie changes tact, blood, gore, and cringe worthy scenes which for me save this film from being a less than average 'WHEN A STRANGER CALLS' type movie which I would've given it a 3.5 to a not bad but not good 6 out of 10. It was good to see Bill Moseley playing a normal role for him. So as a result like I said, I give this a 6 out of 10, only because of the plot twist and blood.

I went into the movie not expecting much, and ended up being completely satisfied. Babysitter Wanted, unlike countless DTV horrors, is genuinely creepy and has an original plot that will stay with people. A great surprise! Angie (Sarah Thompson) moves into a small town to study in college. She meets people there, but also has a feeling that someone is stalking her. She takes up a babysitter position at a farm house one weekend, and the horror begins.

The first half of the movie is in the vein of the Strangers and When a Stranger Calls. And it's equally effective, if not more. It's easy to identify with Angie's situation. The scares are consistent, although SFX is a little overused. Tension is mounted throughout.

A great twist midway turns the movie into a different direction. Without spoiling anything, the movie veers into a supernatural angle and is equally chilling as the first half although might be too gory and disturbing for some. The plot from here on is original, leading to a satisfying ending which makes room for sequels too.

The acting is surprisingly good from everyone. The productions values are great for a low budget movie, although there are a few lighting issues in the second half.

All in all, Babysitter Wanted is a welcome surprise and horror fans will have a great time with it. Recommended.

Babysitter Wanted starts off like pretty much every other babysitter in peril film you've probably already seen: a pretty, virginal high-school student takes a child-minding job in a remote house in the boondocks, where she experiences creepy noises, power outages, and mysterious phone-calls, before eventually being attacked by person or persons unknown. In short, it's about as formulaic as a horror film can get.

If you begin to bemoan this film's predictability, though, you're playing right into the hands of its makers, whose seemingly uninspired set-up exists only to catch the viewer off guard with one hell of a curve-ball halfway through: just as the film couldn't get any more predictable, writer/director Jonas Barnes pulls the metaphorical rug from under his viewers feet with an audacious plot development that has to be seen to be believed.

With his illusion of banality well and truly shattered, Barnes is finally free to explore new territory, but despite the introduction of some welcome black humour, a few well conceived moments of tension and a spot of surprisingly gruesome gore, the film never fully capitalises on its rather bonkers mid-point revelation. If only the madness had escalated exponentially from that point on rather than just kicking up a gear and staying there, I'm sure we'd have had another bona fide horror classic on our hands—after all, nothing succeeds like excess!

This flick seemed a rip-off from another rather successful horror flick, but a look at the timeline shows that it actually came out first. Inspiration for its more successful rival? With that caveat, this low-budget affair deserves an honest mention. Starting with a stale premise and relying on some annoying sound effects, this one commences to travel down the banal road of mediocrity. Thankfully, it sneaks off to be much more than that, a welcomed change of plans for what could have resulted in some rather lethargic eyes. The acting was solid, especially owing to its otherwise low rent essence. The gore was at times laughable, but this surprisingly did not detract from the film itself. The other technicalities of the film were up to par, their inconspicuous nature more a boon than a defamation. Neither unflinchingly gratuitous nor enslaved to pander to the Hollywood set,Babysitter Wanted towed the line perfectly, with a stutter stop start ending that was ultimately a pleasant relief. Merci beaucoup.

Genruk of Evil Eye Reviews