The Guardian (1990)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers (WGA):

Dan Greenburg (novel)
Stephen Volk (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Tonight, while the world is asleep... an ancient evil is about to awaken.

Plot:

Alan and Molly Sheridan have a baby boy named Jake. They hire a baby-sitter, Camilla, to look after Jake and she becomes part of the family...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Nanny | Babysitter | Animate Tree | Coyote

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jenny Seagrove	...	Camilla
Dwier Brown	...	Phil
Carey Lowell	...	Kate
Brad Hall	...	Ned Runcie
Miguel Ferrer	...	Ralph Hess
Natalia Nogulich	...	Molly Sheridan
Pamela Brull	...	Gail Krasno
Gary Swanson	...	Allan Sheridan
Jack David Walker	...	Punk
Willy Parsons	...	Punk
Frank Noon	...	Punk
Theresa Randle	...	Arlene Russell
Xander Berkeley	...	Detective
Ray Reinhardt	...	Dr. Klein
Jacob Gelman	...	Scotty

Runtime:

92 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1990) (theatrical release) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1991) (video release) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Valencia, California, USA

Company:

Nanny Productions

Movie Connections:

References "Family Ties" (1982)

not bad if you can get past the things you're asked to believe

For some reason I've always enjoyed this film but it's premise is a bit hard to swallow. The premise is that there are druids that exist in Southern California and that there's this huge tree in the middle of a forest that babies are sacrificed to. Now, this young couple from Chicago move to So Cal to work, and the woman is expecting, and once the baby is born she decides to rush back to work so of course they'll need a nanny. After lots of interviewing they decide on one young woman who is promptly killed in a cycling accident, so the second choice is Camilla, a lovely young English lady with apparently little in the way of inhibitions. At first things are fine but Camilla seems to be a bit odd and is she seeking to seduce dear old daddy? Well, maybe, she's much more interested in little Jake, the baby. And of course Camilla is not at all what she seems. This also has Brad Hall as an architect, who designed lots of houses in the canyon and accidentally follows Camilla to her "place of worship", after which he doesn't have much of a chance to tell anyone about it. This is not top-notch Friedkin, but it's not bad, and I love the giant nasty tree lurking in the woods, very Hansel and Gretel, which also sort of plays a tiny part here. 7 out of 10, some will enjoy this more than others.