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The Babysitter
USA 2017
Director: McG
Starring: Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Emily Alyn Lind
A young boy is left in the care of the sexy babysitter who is a close friend and someone he deeply fancies. Dared by his best friend to stay up and see what the babysitter gets up to after his bedtime he sees she has a group of friends over to perform a satanic ritual involving murder; and they want his blood.
The setup is remarkably similar to Better Watch Out but the cast is a little less perfect. Still the idea is sound enough. Unfortunately, despite the decent premise things begin to go wrong almost immediately. Our villains are unbelievably stupid and constantly monologue, delay and whine despite knowing they have a very limited time to complete the ritual. The boy doesn't just outwit them, he runs rings around them, ensuring they never offer even the slightest sense of threat, and without that the whole story is pointless. There's a terribly weak subplot about bullying, the director tries to throw in some horror tropes but doesn't understand them. The satanic cult is just pathetic. Worse, it's supposed to be funny, but horror comedy has to first be horror and this just isn't and as for comedy, try to find something to laugh at, I dare you. So why does it get into my list? The two young friends, played by Judah Lewis and Emily Alyn Lind, are really very good on screen. Despite being handed a dog of a script and getting little help they actually manage to make some tension and even some humour out of an awful film. I've seen Bella Thorne on television but I think this is the first time I've seen her in a movie. I know she can do better, but this project is clearly not good enough for her. Most tragically, we waste the qualities of Samara Weaving who was very competent, if not really special, in Mayhem. I'm afraid this one has to be laid at the feet of the writer and director, especially the director.
Death Note
USA 2017
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Lakeith Stanfield, Willem Dafoe, Shea Wigham
Netflix appeared at Frightfest for the first time with this direct-to-stream movie derived from a well-regarded Manga / Anime. A boy gets a book that allows him to kill anyone by simply writing their name in it. It comes with a tricky demon that only he can seeto carry out the killings themselves.
The good. It's nice looking and well made. That's pretty much it, because the plot is unfathomable. It turns out, for example, that in the first act you need the book to kill people, but later on it turns out you don't, just any page, at all, of the book, even if separate, will do. As for the demon, why on earth do you need to feel special for owning the book and being able to see the demon if anyone can write names on any scrap of paper from the book and it works? None of them get the warnings, or see the demon, so where's the moral basis for the tale? It's unforgivably lax and stupid in the story but the effects are good, the killings are fun and the cast and director do the best they can with a wild tale that tries to fit far too much plot into far too little time. Maybe the original Manga made more sense? I rather doubt it.
Don't Breathe
USA 2016
Director: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto
A group of young thieves break into the home of a blind man, assuming he's helpless. Assumptions can be problematic.
The plot is, let's face it, something we've seen done before and arguably better and the script does little to elevate this piece, however it does have some strengths. All the cast are solid but Lang and Levy are just splendid and the quiet scenes where the thieves are being hunted by someone who needs to hear them to attack them are very nicely handled. What really sets it apart, however, is the sting in the tail, the secret the old man is hiding. The reveal is outstanding, creepy and clever, but it does come with a drawback... Our recluse, it turns out, is an atheist, which he uses to explain that he has no morality or ethics. In essence, according to the script, atheist and sociopath are synonyms. Maybe it's just me, but that rather turned me off. Still, overall, a solid effort.
5ive Girls
Most people who watch this film are men, I suspect. I also suspect most of them
chose it because of the thought of five teenage girls sharing a room in a school
and flouncing around in mini-
Yes, it has that, and the girls are very sexy, but there's actually a lot more to it than that implies. The plot actually does have some tension and an interesting point of view, Ron Perlman does a fine job as the spooky priest in charge of the reform school and there are a few quite tense scenes as the spooky building's secrets are explored.
A fun guilty pleasure rather than a classic, but there's a fair amount to enjoy.
Babysitter Wanted (2008)
This was a speculative purchase on DVD, purely because I'd always enjoyed Sarah Thompson in Angel and I was curious to see what she'd do with a starring role in a feature. It turns out to be an interesting entry in the survival horror genre as a young woman finds out her babysitting job is far from ordinary.
In the interests of full disclosure I should perhaps point out that the team behind this one probably thought they were including a real twist in the tale at the end of act one but for the seasoned horror buff it won't really cause much surprise. The fact is that like the French effort Ils from a few years back this telegraphs its twist much too obviously and never really works in that way, however as with Ils it really doesn't matter because the cast, especially the impressive Thompson, engages believably with the story and sells the tension admirably.
The film is certainly short and to the point, no real character development is wasted before we get to the creepy house and the easy charge towards the inevitable gore and screaming.
Babysitter Wanted doesn't show us anything we haven't seen before but it does deliver the formulaic with significant aplomb, the story is well presented and well scripted and it does have a somewhat sympathetic tone. I'd suggest watching The Hamiltons instead of this film, because it is better but there is much pleasure to be had from watching Babysitter Wanted as well. I am curious to see what these people will do next and that is enough to tell you I enjoyed this film.