By Brent Snyder (3/19/2022)
I watched Netflix's horror/comedy series "The Babysitter" and "The Babysitter: Killer Queen" and it's much funnier (and fun) than I initially thought it would be. Color me pleasantly surprised. There be spoilers here, so step back if you haven't seen the movie series yet.
Written by Brian Duffield ("Divergent: Insurgent") and directed by McG ("Charlie's Angels"), "The Babysitter" (2017) has a killer premise: 12-year-old Cole discovers that his favorite babysitter (and dream girl) is actually the leader of a Satanic cult who wants his blood for a sacrificial ritual. Hijinks ensue!
"The Babysitter" stars Judah Lewis as the kid, Samara Weaving ("Mayhem") as the babysitter, Bella Thorne as the cheerleader and a shirtless Robbie Amell ("The Flash," "Code 8") as the jock. The why-isn't-he-wearing-a-shirt thing is one of the better recurring gags in both films.
Duffield's screenplay for "The Babysitter" made the 2014 "Black List" of best unproduced scripts in Hollywood and was snatched up by New Line Cinema. It's a fast-paced and bloody spoof of suburban teen slasher flicks with the kid using his wits to survive against the cult of killers.
Besides Duffield's comedic screenplay (and copious amounts of blood), what makes "The Babysitter" really work is the onscreen chemistry of Lewis and Weaving. Their relationship as babysitter/kid turned hunter/prey is at the center of the film and everything revolves around them.
Unfortunately, "The Babysitter: Killer Queen" (2020) is just not as good. Don't get me wrong, it's got some laughs and some cool needle-drops, but Duffield didn't write this one - and it shows. Instead, McG cowrote the sequel with three other writers - and quality wise, it's all over the place.
At the top of the "good stuff" list is horror icon Jenna Ortega ("Scream," "Studio 666," "X") as the mysterious new girl in school. Her scenes with Lewis ("The Christmas Chronicles") and the budding relationship between their characters are some of the sequel's highlights.
Also good are the over-the-top comedic performances by returning cast members Hana Mae Lee ("Pitch Perfect"), Andrew Bachelor, Thorne and Amell (still shirtless).
Emily Alyn Lind also returns, but unfortunately this time she's transformed from the cool "best friend" to unobtainable "hot girl." And from the very start, Lind is CLEARLY the sequel's new big bad blonde, so it's no surprise to anyone she's evil (except for the kid, who is somehow even more nerdy than he was two years previously). Worst of all, they retcon the entire reason why the OG babysitter made a deal with the devil in the first place. Ugh.
I also wasn't crazy about the sequel's change of setting, ditching the slashers in the suburbs for demon summoning in the desert. With the desert area, party at the lake and running through the surrounding hills, maybe they were going for a "The Wraith" meets "The Hills Have Eyes" kind of thing.
And the sequel suffers with the questionable logic (or lack thereof) within it's own storyline - even for a comedy. For instance, the sequel is set two years after the events of the first film - so the kid is now 14 - but he and his friends are juniors in high school? Wait what? That means they would be 15 when they graduate? And if they're 14, how are they driving?
And when the kid and the new girl retreat to a log cabin on a hill at the edge of a lake - they are shown to be in a rocky desert area where there are NO TREES anywhere to be seen. Maybe they wanted a "Friday the 13th" meets "Evil Dead" kind of thing, but where did the logs for the cabin come from? Questions like these kept pulling me out of the sequel - and reminding me how much better the first movie was.
"The Babysitter" Four Stars!
"The Babysitter: Killer Queen: Three Stars ...
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