The Babysitter Review

The Babysitter (2017) Poster 

I’ve seen my fair share of babysitter movies, and no, I don’t mean porno. But this is not the same thing that you are going to get from the 1980s adventures, or the mid 1990s babysitting movies or sitcom shows. This is a rated R horror movie and it is perhaps one of the best horror movies to come out of any studio in the year 2017. I know high praise, right? But for whatever reason the Netflix people were able to pull off what many mainstream studios haven’t been able to put together, and that’s a solid horror movie with a lot of elements that make sense, rather than getting to the nonsensical route. I’m not going to say that this is ultra realistic, but there are enough elements to make you think twice about nominating another movie as the best of 2017.

The movie is simple enough, starring Samara Weaving as a babysitter, and Judah Lewis as the pre-teen that is in love with her. The two have a good chemistry together, and are friends. But things go awry when he comes out of his room to see the babysitter and her friends doing a cult satanic ritual. They figure out that he saw something, and they want to kill him because he’s a virgin, and that’s where things take a turn. He’s not going to play dead, he’s going to fight back, and as the teens try to kill him, he turns the tables and while “Home Alone” had funny moments, this takes those funny elements and kills off the villains one by one, until the finale leaves your jaw on the floor, because this is not your average horror movie. It has consequences, and those consequences are absolutely thrilling at times.

The gore is turned up. This is not a kid’s movie. The villains get brutally taken care of, and our main character is not without punishment either. He gets beat up a bit, he’s slapped around, but the villains aren’t nearly as smart and end up getting beat up a lot, and eventually, man, you have to see the movie because there’s a sick stunt at the end to really make you question where McG and Brian Duffield came up with this idea.

All of the movie’s elements are well thought out. You get explanations for most of the movie, and when the thrills go down, they are filmed with a precision that only McG could bring forth. He throws in a lot of action that is very well done, giving this a killer production line, and a stellar focus of driving, burning, and gun play. Oh, did I mention the gore? Holy crap, this is a hard R if it were to be rated for theatrical release.

Overall, “The Babysitter” is perhaps the best horror movie that I personally saw in 2017. It has everything you want, without going with gratuitous nudity which is the only reason I won’t say that this is a perfect movie. Other than that, this is a great romp, fun, and comedic, with incredible stunts and a story that actually makes sense overall.

I would recommend that you get this on Blu Ray or something, but it’s only available on Netflix streaming. A service that I’m going to have to buy again, because the company keeps putting out some stellar horror and other stuff.

I do want to shout out Stay Still Reviews, as I was looking through images and found their blog, and it's awesome, go read that!

Stranger Things Review

I didn’t expect to see this, as I don’t usually watch a lot of Netflix originals, but my wife decided to spend a full day binging this show. I didn’t hear anything about it until it started playing and realized that a lot of people online were talking about it. No one in my circle was, and I follow sites like Fangoria. Whatever the case was, this show pulled me in through the premise, and didn’t let go until the end credits of the final episode came through.

The premise of “Stranger Things” is simple. A 12 year old boy goes missing from an Indiana town. The boy’s name is Will and his mother, and friends go on a quest to find him. Along the way, the friends meet up with a young girl that has been the victim of science experiments in the facilities nearby. On the other hand, no one believes Will’s mother who swears the boy is alive. Along the way a skeptical sheriff fights back, the FBI comes through, and a nod to all things 1980s Hollywood and horror comes flying at you right away.

How much do you love horror? “Stranger Things” tests you in everything that you know about horror, meanwhile creating a new lavish scenario that is quite good. Every episode ties together so well, and the visual design flow from the credits through the actual events and story, remind you of something else. It’s a homage at times, it’s a rip off to others, it’s fascinating honestly. There are moments where you swear you’re trapped in an alternate universe where “Stand By Me” meets “Needful Things” and gets tossed around in “Alien” and “The Thing”. If you aren’t a horror fan, you will miss all of these things. There’s so much paid tribute to through the episodes that it’s almost as if the show is a love letter to horror movie fans that have been jaded by so many trivial releases.

“Stranger Things” puts on a showcase of creativity at every turn. The story of a young boy’s death or kidnapping is pushed through every emotional query. A science fiction element similar to “Creature” by John Saul is pushed forward too. There’s so much going on here, that you’ll be swimming in a sea of references that you either get, or you just don’t understand. Alone, this is a seriously good thriller and horror movie. However, the sum of its parts makes you feel that you’re reading a Robin Cook novel, let alone a television program that was made outside of the television landscape.

At the end of the day, “Stranger Things” puts you in the 1980s horror movie world. With a telekinetic girl, a group of friends coming of age, aliens, monsters, and even a little bit of “Signs” for good measure. I didn’t love ever single moment of this series. However, I loved enough of the parts to say that this is one hell of a show, and definitely worth your month’s subscription to Netflix. Color me impressed. Color me interested in seeing more. A stellar showcase, and yet, it feels all so familiar somehow.

NIghtmares in Red White and Blue Review

I don’t often times review documentaries for this website, but I watched one worth mentioning last night. The film is called Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue and the focus is on the American horror film. It’s a special type of history lesson that follows various styles of the American genre of film, although it starts with the German expressionist side of things.

Throughout the film, it showers information on the viewer about the different decades that have passed in regards to horror cinema. I found it interesting at first, then fascinating, and as it built a story line of horror cinema and juxtaposed it with the generational studies that have intrigued me for years, I was glued to my television set. Consistent looks into the separate films of the past have really garnered a lot of attention as of late, especially on television, but this film is quite different than the others.

The film is a nice narrative of sorts, but it doesn’t try to be an encyclopedia of horror film. Sure, there are different genres covered, and the basic bullet points involved, but you will not find the complete story of all things horror in America. I found that at times they skipped over certain aspects of the 1970’s and 1980’s, but still managed to find some interesting points to consider, all the way through the 2000’s and what some call “torture porn”, two words I hate.

I really liked the presentation found on this documentary, the clips were poignant, and the narration, directors speaking, and insight given to several different films, was definitely worth the time spent watching. Nightmares in Red, White and Blue will not win any awards, but it’s an interesting documentary on the genre that I dedicate this site to. I recommend it greatly.

The Netflix Scare

I went through it, many of you probably went through it as well. The Netflix scare! They are adding up the prices to the simple streaming plans, and it can cost an arm and a leg for some.

My first reaction was to cancel it.

Then I did some thinking, and I realized that I need their services to run this blog and that the ad revenue from this blog is just enough to pay for it.

So with that in mind, I have a couple of requests:

1. Patronize the Sponsor - If you are going to buy horror movie t-shirts please buy them from the Horror Shop links. I don't have any other sponsors right now, but I'm always on the look out.

2. Links - If you have a site, and you want to buy a link, you can do so at a low price.

3. Requests - Send me your requests! I decided to upgrade my Netflix account to 3 at a time, so I am going to deliver far more reviews than ever before, so please throw some ideas at me.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program.