THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN
US, 2020, 101 minutes, Colour.
Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Jenny Ortega, Emily Alyn Lind, Andrew Bachelor, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Hana Mae Lee, Ken Marino, Leslie Bibb, Chris Wylde, Carl Mc Dowell.
Directed by Mc G.
The 2017 The Babysitter, made by and released through Netflix, was quite a success in its own way. Directed by a music video and film director, Mc G, the film started ordinarily, a young boy bullied at school, his girlfriend there and from across the street, the attractive young babysitter with whom he had a good relationship. Then, suddenly, and not particularly psychologically convincing, it is revealed that the babysitter is in league with the Devil, has a book of spells, has some and friends who have committed themselves to kill one of the members, collect the blood, have a diabolical ritual.
The young boy feigns sleep and watches from the staircase. What follows is a great deal of mayhem, the calling the police and their being killed, the boy being pursued by the members of the group and each of them being killed with blood and gore. The boy and his girlfriend are pursued by the babysitter in their house but, eventually, the boy drives a car into his own house which crashes onto the babysitter. He declares that he does not need a babysitter anymore.
The success seems to have gone to the head of the filmmakers and, exploitatively and sometimes ridiculously, to their imaginations. Poor Cole, Judah Lewis, is considered to be mentally disturbed by everyone, including his parents and school counsellor. He is supported by his girlfriend, Melanie. A strange young girl comes into the class, Jenny Ortega, and proves to be a catalyst for Cole.
As might be expected, the murdered members of the cult come to life again and go through a lot of the same motions, including their deaths. However, there is more than a twist when it is revealed that Melanie has also sold her soul to the devil, organises some friends to have a ritual (exceedingly inept friends) there are all kinds of violent shenanigans,: his new girlfriend being pursued, finding a mysterious hut, and contact made with Cole’s and Melanie’s fathers who come to the rescue.
One of the words that comes to mind in looking at all these shenanigans is preposterous. According to comments, many of the fans have found this sequel to silly. On the other hand, there are some devotees who seem not to be able to get too much of what they consider a good thing.
Samara Weaving does appear as The Babysitter but only comes into the action, quite substantially, the last 20 minutes – and there are also some unbelievable twists as to who she is and her motivations!
