Review: The Night Sitter

Babysitters man. They must be near the top of the list of Most Dangerous Jobs. It goes Alaskan Crab Fisherman at #1, Babysitters at #2, and then like Bare Knuckle Lion Taming after them at #3 or something. At least, that is what horror movies would have us believe. The Night Sitter comes from a long tradition of babysitter-based spooky stories. While it does fall victim to many of the tropes that plague so many supernatural home invasion films, it ultimately proves to be a fun jaunt of a horror flick, with ample gore and a few jokes to spare.

Amber (Elyse Dufour) arrives in an upscale neighborhood looking for the mansion she is meant to look after. Here she finds Ted Hooper (Joe Walz), an eccentric would-be supernatural sleuth who is going on a date this very night. He has hired her to watch over his son Kevin (Jack Champion) and his date’s son Ronnie (Bailey Campbell). Kevin has been troubled ever since his mother’s death and has secluded himself to his room, constantly draws disturbing, violent imagery. Once Amber is alone in the house, it begins to become clear that her intentions are more nefarious (i.e. robbery). However, within Ted’s locked office there is a very special book that unlocks the physical manifestation of The 3 Mothers, the malicious beings that have been tormenting Kevin’s dreams. Once they get out, Amber goes from preying on the house to being preyed upon within the house.

This is a movie that wears its influences on its sleeves. For evidence, look no further than both the title card shot at the beginning and a long POV one later on in the film. They are clear recreations of the famous house shot from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Halloween Michael Myers POV opening, respectively. Often times, this can be a little frustrating, especially when it is on the nose (we spend the movie in the Hooper residence). However, no self respecting horror fan can say they wouldn’t feel the urge to tip their hat to what movies mean the most to them. So, I cannot truly fault them for that, and they never indulge too much. But it is worth pointing out that this is definitely a derivative story. Yet, for the most part, that doesn’t weigh too heavily on the movie. 

What does elevate this movie is the relationship between Amber and Kevin. They just click immediately in a believable way. She at one point just tells him she is robbing the house, and while it feels BS adjacent,  it also feels as though she is the first person to actually treat him as though he is on the same level. The movie does not devote a large amount of time to the two, but you slowly get the sense that she truly does care for this kid.

As far as our antagonists go, they are a bit of a mixed bag. I would actually like to know more about the witches and what they are hoping to accomplish over the course of the film. They are definitely an evil for the sake of being evil type villain. I do not want to stop the movie for a powerpoint laden lecture mind you. But, a bit of specificity would have been appreciated. Including, what exactly they are capable of. This also necessitates an understanding of the magical rules. Because, they can be subdued through magic, yet it is muddled as to when it will and will not work. Also, there is no real indication as to why they continually hold back from attacking the members of the house. “Playing with their food” is given as a reason, which is a novel concept. However, you have to show this more in action, rather than just using it as an excuse to have scenes with your protagonists by themselves.

When the witches do strike, the results are surprisingly gory. At first, all the violence seemed more in line with the tone of Gremlins. However, the scenes eventually turn quite graphic in a charming low-budget fashion. I found this late movie wrinkle to be an enjoyable addition. Similar to the down and dirty pleasure you can take from Jason Voorhees releasing his pent up aggression, so too can you enjoy the witches creatively dispatching members of the Hooper home. Freestanding weights, when applied enough times, can result in some interestingly soupy results to be sure.

Visually, the movie brings an array of colors to the table. Using Christmas at the kooky ghost-guys house as a guise for primary color rich lighting was a neat bit of motivation. There definitely could have been more contrast and shadow in my opinion though. The movie does at times come off flat and digital. The added contrast could have not only made the overall look more ominous and foreboding, but it would have made the colors pop and hidden the witch costumes in darkness. At times, they do appear to be far too well lit given the fact that they are just people in dark cloaks with masks on. In fairness, I would say that the more colorful sequences are usually alright; the humdrum, everyday lighting is where most of my gripes can be found.

I will take the time to note Ted’s character arc was something I found to be rather nice. It was not exactly unexpected, but the failed Zak Bagans angle was fun. The rest of the characters are genre staples. You have seen all of them in many different movies in many different incarnations. Though, the movie’s humor lands often enough that they do not become irritating at all. As vessels for the jokes and sight gags, they are perfectly serviceable. The movie never asks all that much of you. Things happen from A to B to C, and while it never surprises you, it also never frustrates you. The movie is competently made. It knows what sort of movie it is, and there is not much of anything under the surface. It makes it rather necessary to simply discuss the plot and nothing much else. Even the surrogate mother story between Amber and Kevin is nothing new. It does not come across as deep or meaningful. Instead it plays as cute and endearing. But, I’ll take cute and endearing. It was a nice little bit of stakes, when so often I could not care less about any of the characters by the end of most horror films.

On the whole, The Night Sitter does not ever elevate beyond the hodgepodge of influences that lead to its creation. It is a cover song of much more exciting and impactful horror movies. But, it also happens to be a decent little cover song. It’s put together moderately well, and it gets the feeling of the original mostly right, while adding just enough successful changes to stand out on its own.