The Babysitter

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The Babysitter is a Netflix horror-comedy film directed by McG. The movie centers around 12-year-old Cole (played by Judah Lewis), whose overprotective parents still force him to have a babysitter. His belief is that his babysitter Bee (played by Samara Weaving) is the coolest person ever. She treats him like an adult, sticks up for him, and actually shares a lot of his interests. His friend encourages him to stay up one night to discover exactly what she does. This leads to the discovery that she is the leader of a satanic cult of teenagers. The rest of the movie is a night spent trying to survive. One of the first things I noticed was that the balance between horror and comedy actually worked better than it should really have. There are some moments that build up genuine tension. I love that the other killers Bee has amassed aren’t very bright, so it’s pretty easy to figure out how she recruited these people. The acting is pretty damn solid. Samara Weaving as Bee really stands out. The actress makes you believe it when she needs to come across as sympathetic. She also does a good job coming off as intimidating. The movie isn’t perfect, however. There’s a lot of times where text will just pop up on screen at various moments, and it can come off as distracting, to say the least. I do love the way this movie actually flips a lot of the conventions of stereotypical slasher clichés. For example, the hero is a 12-year-old. The killers are the idiot teenagers that would be hunted down and killed otherwise. Is this movie the most original? No. Is it groundbreaking? No. This is a fairly simple movie, and despite its flaws, is a fun guilty pleasure sort of watch for Halloween.

6 / 10