RatingMovies.Com - ldh's review of Babysitter Wanted (2008)

A few months ago, i watched House Of The Devil, The (2009) and loved its atmosphere. It was an 80's throwback to Satan worship that was so well done. The music, the cinematography, the slow paced editing and satanic subject matter was a direct homage to all the movies of that genre from the late 70's and early 80's. But i was yearning for something more. More action, more satanic stuff, more blood. Yes, even though i loved the film for its moody style, i wanted more.

Angie (Sarah Thompson) is a young woman about to start College in a small town. Looking to make some money, she takes a babysitting job at a remote farm off the town's limits. At first, she is enchanted to meet with well educated professionals instead of hillbillies she was fearing. But on her first night, strange events start happening. The phone rings non stop and no one answers at the other end. The boy she is babysitting is acting very strangely, and soon, a weird man is forcing his way into the house and starts wrecking havoc. At first, Angie thinks he's after him, but she quickly realizes that it is instead the boy he's after.

TRAILER

There is definitely an 80's throwback in the air. There is plenty of music and films that aspire very clearly to re-create some of the sounds and visuals of that era. This film is interesting in that is actually mixes several genres together. What starts like a Halloween 1 (1978)-esque bogeyman transforms itself into a Satanic film, and ends into a bloody torture-porn-like finale. It is very well performed, and well filmed overall. It's fairly packed with action and gore and keeps being entertaining throughout.

This is a little horror film with no other pretension but to entertain plain and simply. Like Storm Warning (2007) that i just reviewed, it focuses on higher-than-expected production value, writing and performances. It doesn't skimp on gore and keeps an overall entertaining pace throughout. Among the masses of mediocre horror films i have seen recently, this one stands out as a fun movie.

- Laurent Hasson