Babysitter Wanted

The very effective beginning introduces the film’s protagonist, Angie, an art history student who responds to an ad looking for a nanny, a couple of her classmates, who tell the viewer that Angie doesn’t deserve a painful dead, and a mysterious man in a dark suit with a rather unsettling behaviour to say the least. The story then moves to the remote Stanton’s farm, where our heroine will look after Sam, the whiny son of a nice couple. As soon as darkness falls, someone starts calling to the house and the viewer can see that sinister guy standing nearby. That doesn’t sound very original, right? It’s true, but at least it works! At that moment, I started feeling fear and tension and I rejoiced because I was finally watching a good horror film after a long time. But then, at around the fiftieth minute, something happens and I couldn’t get over it until the end. That twist was indeed surprising, but I would have much preferred Babysitter Wanted to be an ordinary horror movie with a degenerate psychopath, instead of such a weird blend of subgenres. And on top of that, the acting is pretty poor, there were moments that made me feel it was an unintended parody. It’s been long since I last saw a film with a second half that ruined it so badly. Until the twist 7/10, after the twist 3/10 → overall 5/10. (02.03.2009)