FrightFest wouldn’t be FrightFest without a home invasion movie or two, and this year’s first offering in this sub-genre comes from writer and director, Kohl Glass. The film, Babysitter Must Die, pits babysitter Josie (Riley Scott) against a fanatical cult who need to perform a ritual within the house that she is working. What the cult don’t realise is that Josie is a life-long Mustard Seed (a variant on a girl scout) and her preparedness might just be their downfall.
Babysitter Must Die attempts to separate itself from some of the other home invasion films on the market by adding some quirky comedy into the mix. The endeavour doesn’t fully pay off however, as the fun quota isn’t pushed as far as it could have been. Things start well enough with the use of badges flashing up on screen to demonstrate Josie’s abilities; these ‘abilities’ have been stretched slightly to achieve laughs. For example, the parkour badge flashes up as she jumps onto the sofa during a pre-invasion game of hide and seek. Another is the marksmanship badge, which flashes up as Josie plays, and spectacularly fails, at darts. The disconnect of the badge and Josie’s ability level is amusing, but it doesn’t quite work post invasion when Josie suddenly becomes inexplicably much better at things.
Our group of villains are also steered into the arena of humour whilst still trying to maintain some threat from them. The result here is that they land somewhere in the middle: not quite silly enough to be funny, and not quite brutal enough to be frightening. Their appearance immediately removes the menacing factor; an element of the ritual involves them sacrificing a body part, and each arrives with a bandage covering the relevant part. It’s pretty hard to find someone with a bandage on their ear or eye all that terrifying, and it’s a real shame as without any sense of danger, the story falls flat.
The film flickers back and forth between the cultists and Josie, leaving it a little unclear who exactly is supposed to be our central focus. Given her arc from the rather pathetic and meek mouse that we first meet, to warrior princess, Josie is clearly meant to be the focus, yet in terms of minutes on film it’s potentially the trio of fanatics that get more screen time. It makes everything a little confused and strips the movie of any great moments of tension because we always know what the antagonists are up to.
Visually, the film plays against the comedy elements and is dark and gritty. Were it to lean further into the fun and be a little brighter and bolder, then perhaps that would help it be a more cohesive piece. As it stands, Babysitter Must Die has too many contrasting components that work to undo each other’s hard work, ultimately leaving a film that is hard for the audience to fully access and enjoy.
Babysitter Must Die was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest Halloween.
Babysitter Must Die
Summary
A film that seems unclear of the direction it wants to go in, not pushing far enough into either comedy or horror, leaving the viewer confused about its intentions.
