Like most of you, I’ve had some time where I had a babysitter and time where I was the babysitter. Most of the sitters I’ve had were relatives. Of the others, I’ve had some I was afraid of, some that seemed to be afraid of me, some I hated, some I liked, and some I liked-liked, especially that one with the big…never mind. When I was the sitter, it was only for my siblings. All these years later they tell me I was mean. Our wonderful host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves lets us relive those times when our parents left us with some supposedly responsible adult, or willing teenager looking to make a few bucks, by having us talk movies with babysitters and/or nannies this week. Let’s see what I came up with.
Child’s Play
(1988)
Since there’s a remake about to hit theaters, it’s only fitting that I pick this iconic slasher flick. Whether you’ve seen it or not, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the plot. A bad guy is cornered by the cops and about to die, and transfers his soul into a doll named Chucky. He then continues to be a murderous bastard. A single mom buys the doll for her son’s birthday, and the rest is horror history. You might be saying, “I know all that, but how does it fit the topic?” I’ll tell ya. Single mom has to work late hours so her best friend volunteers to watch her brat for the night. For her troubles, she becomes Chucky’s first victim. Why yes, that's her falling to her death.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
(1992)
Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay) thinks Claire (Annabella Sciorra) ruined her life. However, this is unbeknownst to Claire. To get even, Peyton puts her best foot forward to get Claire and her husband to hire her as their nanny and proceeds to go rabbit-boiling insane. It’s one of the early entrants on the ever-growing list of Fatal Attraction clones, and one of the best. Even if it were terrible, and you might think it is, I’d still love it. I have a soft spot for psycho-stalker movies. I especially love them when someone gives a performance as committed to their character’s insanity as Rebecca De Mornay. She’s never better…or nuttier.
The Babysitter
(2017)
Cole (Judah Lewis) is a socially awkward kid who gets bullied a lot. His hot, college-ish-age babysitter Bee (Samara Weaving) often comes in to save his day. One night, after she thinks Cole is sleep, Bee does the movie babysitter thing and calls her friends over. The twist is that they’re all part of a Satanic cult. Guess who they want to kill? That sounds a lot more dire than the movie actually is. It’s really a morbid, gory comedy that never takes its foot off the gas and is loads of fun. Think Home Alone,” but with grisly death scenes. (full review)
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is fucking insane. I love it. Child's Play is awesome though they should've stopped after the second film though Bride of Chucky is a nice guilty pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI just watched the second and third Child's Play movies. I agree with this idea completely.
DeleteAnd yes, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is twisted and wonderful because of it.
And I thought my picks were on the dark side!
ReplyDeleteI have seen the original Child's Play fully expecting it not to be my thing but EVERYONE was talking about it so I wanted to at least be in the loop and I was right! It wasn't for me but I can sort of see why it became so popular. I've avoided all the sequels like the plague.
I'd never heard of The Babysitter before today but I see several people have chosen it.
We match! The Hand That Rocks the Cradle really isn't that well made of a movie, it is cool to see Julianne Moore so young though, but De Mornay makes it essential viewing at least once to see her full committed Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs performance.
As I said I went to the darker end of the governess/nanny spectrum though in my other two besides our match it's more tone than violence that makes them inky.
Jane Eyre (1943)-After losing her parents and being raised in a hellish boarding school one step above an orphan asylum Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) is hired to be governess for Adele (Margaret O’Brien) the daughter of intense, brooding Edward Rochester (Orson Welles) at the remote Thornfield mansion. Attracted to him but wary she soon finds the mansion is a place of many secrets, some of which could be deadly. Based on the Charlotte Bronte novel.
The Nanny (1965)-Nanny (Bette Davis), a London family's live-in maid, brings morbid 10-year-old Joey (William Dix) back from the psychiatric ward he's been in for two years, since the death of his younger sister. Joey refuses to eat any food Nanny's prepared or take a bath with her in the room. He also demands to sleep in a room with a lock. Joey's parents-workaholic Bill (James Villiers) and neurotic Virgie (Wendy Craig)-are sure Joey is disturbed, but he may have good reason to be terrified of Nanny. A battle of wits and wills ensues. Taut psychological drama was unfortunately lumped in with the hagsploitation films that became popular after the success of Davis’s “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” It is unrelated to them and much better.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)-During what should be a routine visit to her new obstetrician Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) is molested by the doctor and reports him to the police. Rather than taking the rap the doctor commits suicide. The shock of the accusations and suicide causes the doctor's pregnant wife, Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay), to miscarry. Now unhinged mentally but seemingly normal Peyton poses as a nanny for the Bartel family with the intention of tearing Claire's life apart, seducing her husband (Matt McCoy) and eventually murdering the woman she blames for ruining her life. While the setup is a bit ripe De Mornay is fantastic and makes the picture much more than it should be.
I'm mildly impressed that you've seen Child's Play. And yeah, The Babysitter is definitely not a Joel movie.
DeleteOf yours, our match is the only one I've seen. And De Mornay makes it far more than it should be.
I loved watching The Babysitter! It was such a fun horror movie!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Thursday Movie Picks!
Ronyell @ The Surreal Movies and TV Blog
The Babysitter was a blast!
DeleteThe remake of Child's Play is going to be the first Chucky movie I see - shameful, I know!
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to see The Babysitter - that one looks fun.
Not going to watch the original before the remake? Hmmm, curious decision. Hope you enjoy the remake when you see it, though. I'm cautiously optimistic about it. The Babysitter is on Netflix, by the way.
DeleteI've always meant to watch The Hand That Rocks The Cradle but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I LOVE Child's Play. It's so campy, I think I prefer the second one slightly. I haven't seen your 3rd pick, but it was popular this week.
ReplyDeleteThe second Child's Play is not a bad choice, at all.
DeleteI wouldn’t recommend any of those movies
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad. I do.
DeleteRebecca De Mornay's performance was amazing! The film is so outrageous though, especially because of that one black character with mental disability, it would never be released in today's climate
ReplyDeleteDe Mornay is so good in this. I may have to watch it again because I don't even remember the black character.
DeleteThat Child’s Play is one of the dumbest films I have ever seen..hahahaa. The second film is popular today and I might very well, give it a try. I think I will pass on the last one but sounds campy.
ReplyDeleteI hope you give The Hand That Rocks the Cradle a shot just for De Mornay's performance.
DeleteI remember watching The Hand That Rocks the Cradle when I was about 11 years old. I was so excited that the lead actress and I share the same name ��
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with that at all.
DeleteChild’s Play is such a great pick! I’m hating myself for forgetting about it.
ReplyDeleteIt helps that I just recently watched it, lol.
DeleteChild's Play - Can't remember much of the story other than how the doll became demonic. The doll already looked creepy even before the possession.
ReplyDeleteThe Babysitter - This was a fun horror comedy.