Playing Around with Movies: “The Babysitter”

Let’s say you’re sitting at home late at night with your friends, perhaps after a long day of studying and playing checkers, discussing what to wear for your precious Netflix and relax. You want to seem cool; Do you want a choice that is fun for everyone?

Throw in “The Babysitter.” You want fucking blood? “The Babysitter.” Want some eye candy? “The Babysitter.” Do you want fresh visual ideas? “The Babysitter.” Metacasting? Campiness? Serious performances? “Babysitter”, “babysitter”, “babysitter”. I promise you it will make everyone happy.

Directed by McG, you’ll be reminded how and why he quietly cultivated one of the most successful artistic careers of the 21st century. Check out all the projects he has produced or directed. His legacy is intact, from 15 years of “Supernatural” television to the iconic football movie “We Are Marshall” and much more.

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What drives him in his work is his innate ability to turn the boring into something extraordinary. In “The Babysitter” he is able to convey his unique style and avoid any banality. He photographs with a shallow depth of field that creates deep shapes in the interiors. Photographing each room with a different color that harmonizes with the viewer’s perception but is still enticing takes us further into depth. In the foreground is the living room with a regularly lit chandelier, in the background is an atmospheric green dining room and behind that is a haunting red kitchen. To put it briefly: it just makes it interesting. It’s an idea that takes a simple premise and pushes it one step further. That’s the simplest and best explanation of strong directing I can give.

Ken Marino, Andrew Bachelor, Leslie Bibb, Robbie Emmell and young Bella Thorn! Almost every actor in this film understood their role and knew what McG was looking for. For this role alone, Amell deserves a better career. He’ll make your couch laugh so many times you’ll wonder why he hasn’t become the first casting choice for every director looking to cast an attractive jerk. Action, horror, comedy, he deserves a leading role somewhere. He’s definitely been there, but he’s never been thrown a big bone to chew on.

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The text contains about one joke per minute, and the visual gags fill in when these are missing. The blood spurts like a geyser and villains shoot like in a 60s C-Western. In pursuing the story being told, all logic is thrown overboard. “The Babysitter” never comes close to reality. Both in the script and in the execution, it goes as far into the ridiculous as possible. Inserted on-screen text, exaggerated blood splatters, and stat cards from sci-fi legends create a unique experience that makes up for any shortcomings.

Normally a movie will try to be serious for at least 10 minutes, but “The Babysitter” doesn’t even try. Moments like “It’s not easy to have a good time” from “Rocky Horror Picture Show” or the whiteboard scene where the manipulators bet on how the victims will die provide a nice double entendre that gives the audience something to relate to Thinking gives while we wait for our death Next moment of silliness. “The Babysitter” has no ambition, even the performances that I love so much add nothing to the film. They are messengers, intermediaries between the script, McG and us. Although they get the message across there efficiently, they don’t care about wrapping it in a loop.

In particular, Judah Lewis as Cole Johnson does poorly. Not only unable to add anything, but also unable to keep up with the brisk cadence of the rest of the cast. Normally I would hate to criticize a child, but this movie came out in 2017 and I’m sure Judah has grown into a good young man who can handle a little criticism. His performances seem a little stilted, a little halting and very awkward. While I understand that his character is supposed to be a goofy little teenager, it definitely feels more like a failing on the part of the actor than a character component.

Horror comedy is a genre that gets used over and over again, and rightly so. It’s a simple combination that takes two ideas that seem to be in natural contradiction to each other, but relies on similar executions to work. Both must upend expectations after building a highly anticipated setup to unburden the audience.

While “The Babysitter” certainly doesn’t break any new ground, McG delivers a pulpy spectacle.

Jack Simon is a mogul trainer and writer/director who enjoys eating food he can’t afford, traveling to places beyond his budget, and creating art about skiing, food, and travel while doing so is broke. Visit his website jacksimonmakes.com to see his travelogue series “Jack’s Jitney.” For inquiries of any kind, you can email him at [email protected].