On B List of Movie Reviews

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The Babysitter (1995)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 8/20

8/20: There's a point being made in The Babysitter.

Two male teenagers with an overactive imagination decide to visit the house where a good-looking girl has a babysitting job. It turns out that she isn't interested in them, preferring to focus on her job.

Heavily influenced by alcohol, the father of the kids wants to make a play for the babysitter by getting away from the party. At the same time, one of the boys has rape on his mind, and everything goes awry when the father returns home.

The film works well this way with lots of back-and-forth between the house and the social adults-only party. It's all about the hormones. Yet the director goes too far by adding two unnecessary parallels to the mix: the father's wife wishing for an affair with the host of the party and their kid taking interest in the babysitter.

Good acting is what makes this film possible. The catalyst of the plot is Nicky Katt who's been underrated for a long time. J.T. Walsh is well-seasoned to give a strong performance. All Alicia Silverstone has to do is to look pretty and not do very much; she's effective this way.

All in all, The Babysitter is a well-edited erotic thriller.

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