Babysitter Wanted (2008)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Directors:

Jonas Barnes
Michael Manasseri

Writer:

Jonas Barnes (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

No experience necessary...

Plot:

Small college town, girl gets a babysitting job on a rural farm, she is terrorized throughout the night. |

Plot Keywords:

College | Strangulation | Art | Pistol | Bong

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tina Houtz	...	Rebecca Miller
Sarah Thompson	...	Angie Albright
Matt Dallas	...	Rick
Bruce Thomas	...	Jim Stanton
Kristen Dalton	...	Violet Stanton
Bill Moseley	...	Chief Dinelli
Monty Bane	...	Nicoletta
Nana Visitor	...	Linda Albright
Kai Caster	...	Sam Stanton
Jillian Schmitz	...	Erica
Brett Claywell	...	Hal
Douglas Rowe	...	Professor
Jeff Markey	...	Deputy Corwin
Cristie Schoen	...	Dazed Girl
Scott Spiegel	...	Dr. Spiegel

MPAA:

Rated R for strong grisly violence including disturbing images, torture and terror, some language and drug use.

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Lake Shastina, California, USA

Company:

Big Screen Entertainment Group

How a low-budget horror flick SHOULD be done.

When I first saw the trailer for 'Babysitter Wanted', I immediately thought it looked like a pretty bad, low-budget rip-off of 'When a Stranger Calls'. I mean, a female babysitter receiving phone-calls by someone lurking outside the house -- it sounds exactly the same. I, however, blind-bought this movie on DVD yesterday, and I have to say that it is easily one of the best horrors I've seen of 2009 yet.

Now the premise of the film tells the story about religious gal Angie (Sarah Thompson) who is new to college in a new town, and needs to buy a bed. She takes up a babysitting job with a local couple, and later that night, she begins receiving creepy phone-calls. This sounds similar to When a Stranger Calls, right? Well, that is until a huge twist is introduced midway into the film, which is completely unpredictable and it turns into a different movie! The twist was great, made the movie stand out and left me shocked. I wasn't expecting it at all, and if anyone tells you they saw it coming, they are simply lying. The only thing this movie has in common with WASC is the genre and the babysitting -- that is all (even the phone-calls are brief).

The acting was solid and Sarah Thompson did a really good job and had an actual likable character to work with, and seemed like a good babysitter. I was, however, cautious about her performance as she did terribly in her last horror 'Brutal' (awful movie), but Babysitter Wanted proves she's a good actress who simply had made a bad movie. Matt Dallas was really good too, although he could have been used more, as well as Nana Visitor - who plays Angie's very religious mother. Bill Moseley did really well as the Sheriff, and the parents were very good too. Oh, can't forget the kid, he was creepy as hell!

Babysitter Wanted also provides some suspenseful moments, lots of bloody violence, chase scenes and some brutal death sequences. The movie was also filmed really well, and didn't look like one of those terrible low-budget movies. Babysitter Wanted is one of the great low-budget movies and I'm very happy I bought it, as it was very much worth it. Don't let the trailer fool you, and stop calling it a rip-off of When a Stranger Calls...it's much better!

8/10