329: The Babysitter (2017)

SPEAKER_00 0:04

I'm looking at the photo now and I'm a believer.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

And that's all they're face. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hack or Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. We're not weird, okay? We're just having fun. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or slash.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

Totally killer. Fun intended.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slash enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac. Good boy, pretty boy, the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_04 0:52

Step over here and take this shot just like you take some ass.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

And the paranormal paramour, Vinks. Macy's Top Rack. I don't play games. This week we're checking out a horror comedy that was released by Netflix on the same day our show started back in 2017. On Friday the 13th of that very October, Netflix introduced audiences to a film that had been previously recognized on a 2014 list of the year's best unproduced screenplays. The story drops us in the heart of suburbia, where a young boy named Cole has elected to stay awake past his bedtime to see what goes on after he's supposed to be asleep. His quest to taste the forbidden fruit of late night freedom, though, leads him down a rabbit hole far darker than the shadows lurking in his room, and he discovers a secret that shatters his perception of safety. The narrative threads us through a dichotomy of perceived safety and lurking danger, challenging the trust we place in those closest to us. And this week's film invites us to question the facades of normalcy that pervade our daily lives and shows us monsters that don't just dwell in the shadows. They walk in the light of day wearing the guise of those charged with our care. What secrets lie behind the smiles of those we believe we know? Well, grab your popcorn and buckle up, folks, because we're about to find out. This week we're talking about The Babysitter. Who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_05 2:09

I've seen this a couple of times now. I feel like I'm just trying to hope I remember all of this because I feel like we were set out to watch this a while back, and then things got in the way, and we had to do other movies, and now I'm like, man, it now it feels like I should have watched it again, but we're gonna pull it together. Now I I saw this I think like a year or so ago randomly just scrolling through Netflix, and my wife and I stumbled upon it and put it on, and so I watched it then, and then I watched it probably just a few weeks ago for the podcasts.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

I know what you mean, because this is one of those films where once you start the movie, then everything will come back to you. Then you remember the entire movie. I watched it definitely when it first came out, again during quarantine, because I think at that point that's when the sequel came out, and then for the third time getting ready for this recording.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yeah, I forgot there was a sequel.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

We did a back-to-back when I watched this. We watched this and the sequel right after each other. This was my first watch. This is one of those that coming out on Netflix was interesting, saw it again later and was like, oh, I want to watch this, but I'm probably gonna watch it for the pod, and I'm gonna save it because there's a lot we need to watch. So I'm gonna hit pause on that, put it on the list. It's been on my watch list basically for what, like five years now or something. Been waiting to watch it, and that was the first and only time I was able to.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Oh, that's so exciting, Mac. Wow. I'm hearing about a lot of things you've never seen before. I've actually seen this movie a couple times before. It's one of those that was very prominently featured on Netflix, and it's I think really compelling and easy to just take a shot on. It's one of those that feels very polished. And given that it's a horror comedy, it I remember even uh hovering over it on Netflix one day where I guess the trailer or scenes from the movie start playing, and I remember thinking, oh, this gives, in retrospect, what Mac always talks about with Netflix just puts out some stuff that's just rock solid in terms of being aesthetically pleasing and just technically sound. And I remember going into it the first time, I was expecting just a casual good time. But Mac, I'm I'm curious, given that you've wanted to see this for so long, what were you expecting?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

It's kind of based on what you just said, right? Like I was expecting a certain level of polish and modernity to it. So storyline-wise, it seemed like this might be something unique and and interesting, but it also seems a little goofy, like this might be a fun movie just based on the trailers. It seems like that same vibe you get from like Happy Death Day. And so I was looking forward to something that is new, it's polished, it's bright, it's colorful, but at the same time, maybe it's gonna be some fun.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

It's a good point. I think it's billed as a horror comedy, like you said, Chris, and with a name like the babysitter, I think you can only expect this one to probably either be really fun or really bad. And you know, I think horror comedies, it's hit or miss for me. We all know that there's some ones out there that I just haven't been a big fan of, but there's some ones, if it's done right, that I think hold up really well and they're really refreshing and really fun to watch, you know. So will this hold up as a fun, campy slasher, or will it crumble as a way too silly horror comedy? Will it be somewhere in between? Time will tell, but I think just the way that the cover art looks when you're scrolling through, it catches your attention, right? The the description, the plot, everything feels like it should be kind of fun. It's got like a decent looking cast, so I don't know. I think it it could go either way, but with horror comedies, you just never know.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

I struggle with horror comedies too, as we infamously know, or at least Camp. I didn't have many expectations for this film since I've seen it well previous to this last time, twice. It's the cast ultimately that I think dictates what to expect. You have a super famous like YouTube star, you have this guy. I feel like he's been in a lot of like B list movies for a bit that are escaping me right now.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

You're talking about Robbie M. L, the guy from the CW shot stuff.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Yes, thank you. Yeah, I don't know what came first to me was Dilf, which is a great movie, and the main character's name is Bianca. That's not the point. But and then of course Bella Thorne, Miami Cuban native, but she's a whole mess in and of itself. So there's that. But we've got our leading lady, our queen, very young and great main character. So going into this, it was a matter of knowing that the cast was gonna be uh fun to watch, but as a whole, knowing that it's the comedy and the slapstick of it, and am I really gonna love it as much as I probably did the first time around? Am I really gonna still feel the same way as I did the first time as a second time? Am I gonna laugh the same way? All these things. So that's my expectation going to this third round and a little worried how I was gonna feel about the film overall.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Oh, I was right there with you, Binks. This is something that I actually laughed out loud with several times the first one or two times I watched it. And I wouldn't compare it necessarily to the same pure unadulterated joy that I get from Tucker and Dale versus Evil, but I'm a few years removed from seeing this. In fact, this movie came out when we first started the podcast. I watched it uh within the first year of its release, and then sometime during our quarantine period, but I haven't revisited it since. So it's been at least four years for me. And I found myself still smiling from ear to ear and being pleasantly surprised about how many other people I recognize in this movie, or even small moments and notes of dialogue. Like this is a very quotable movie, and I found myself just super entertained.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Yeah, this is an entertaining movie to watch. There's something a little light about it, even though it's kind of a dark topic. There's something a little fun about it, and they even go deep sometimes with relationships between characters, just for a minute, just to really reel you in a little bit more, but not so deep that it is trying to hit you super emotionally. So it's got like this kind of weird balance to where you know that it's like, you know that it's fun, you know that there's camp, and it's kind of crazy, but it just keeps you going the entire time without some kind of crazy unnecessary intensity, even though it has moments of crazy unnecessary intensity.

SPEAKER_05 8:18

Yeah, I think fun is a good word to describe this movie. I think it is something where you just sit down and you just have a good time, right? There are some serious moments that it is a pretty heavy subject, pretty dark subject when you really think about it. But the way that it's delivered to you and with those one-liners we're talking about, I feel like it is just kind of a fun movie to watch. And it just you do find yourself smiling, you do find yourself laughing, you do find yourself with those wow moments of, oh shit, this just really shit hit the fan here. You know what I mean? And I think that just makes for a good watch, like a good fun watch. And when you watch a lot of horror movies and you watch a lot of really serious shit and really heavy shit and traumatic shit, like sometimes something fun just cuts through it and it's just a nice time.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Okay, well, when you put it that way. All right. It's funny, we I was just listening back to one of our previous episodes that we did not too long ago, where I talked a lot about how there are people out there that want to watch horror movies so that they don't feel anything and they just want fun, they don't want the serious stuff. I, on the other hand, like I love those kinds of horror films, but I can appreciate a fun time. We know I love repo. So, you know, I have a heart. I can laugh. So there's that too. But this is what I was saying earlier. It's with this film, I'm struggling because I a thousand percent agree. Lots of quotes that did make me laugh. It's extremely quotable. However, I think re-watching this film so many times, we've finally gotten to a point where we've and we've had this conversation previously with lots of other movies that we've reviewed where, like, if I kept watching this, would I still like it? That's how I was feeling throughout the whole film. As I kept watching it this third time around, I wasn't laughing as much. There was a lot of cringe. There were particular scenes where I was like, oh God, this is such an eye roll because I know what they're trying to do. It's the baiting, it's the the start of the Gen Z humor. I don't know, certain things I get over it very quickly. The bit is old and boring. That being said, though, I can't take away the fact that the film and its plot, although dark, it toes the line very well from having a dark subject matter and then really making it extremely funny, thus making it a simple horror comedy. Does that make sense? If you want to just throw a film on, then this is a great one to do that. And that's what's most surprising because with how intense some of the kills are, I can't wait for you to talk about that, Sean. But like how intense some of the kills are, how intense the actual subject matter is. The we you mentioned it earlier in the movie introduction, Chris, about how you trust somebody and then, you know, plot twist, like that kind of stuff, I think is so dark and menacing. And then you've just got a ton of Gen Z jokes and things that we've seen in so many horror comedies that are like probably on tubi or something. I don't know. It's just like it's a bit of that.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah, no, I I get you, Bingson. I know that I've I said some really positive things so far, but that's not to say this movie is perfect. I think I have a new appreciation for some parts of it because this is the first time I'm re-watching this movie since we saw Better Watch Out last year. So there's some differences here and there are some similarities. If you put up a Venn diagram, this movie has a lot of overlap, but there are some moments in this movie where you have extreme close-ups that feel like it's setting up Chekov's entire inventory of products, right? We have Chekhov's race car, Chekhov's nice and thin dishwasher. There's a lot going on there. But then also stylistically, I was surprised by how surprised I was and disappointed I was that we get title cards in the middle of the movie, and I was like, bro, I don't know if I vibe with this at all. Like it just stood out to me in a harsh way. And the fact that I don't remember them at all, maybe I trauma blocked that. Like I can't remember what my feelings were initially. It felt random, it felt disjointed. That's not to say that it's a terrible movie or a perfect movie, it's just an interesting mix getting to watch this again after so many years.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Yeah, there is an underlying zaniness that is kept at bay and it really comes out in the sequel that it's like somebody loves Scott Pilgrim. Oh no. And they are trying really hard not to be like 100% Scott Pilgrim when they made this movie. And it it just it every now and then you get that zaniness where it comes out whether it's the title cards or or transition effects or something, but it's more so in the sequel distracting. I think in in in this one, it's again kept at bay a little bit, but the zininess kind of crosses over from camp sometimes. It's not too bad here. I'll say that. Like the sequel, they go like full ham, just it's crazy. But it is a little unfortunate like to go past camp in those moments to a level of silliness. The camp here I was surprised by because I thought it was gonna be like way heavier. Right. And I think it was actually done in in a really tasteful way in a really constrained way. It's with those moments where they go a little bit too far that it's like, okay, chill out a little bit. Yeah, but the 99% of the movie, they honestly nail it.

SPEAKER_05 13:30

I I agree with you. I think what really got me was how well they were able to do that, how well they were able to blend the camp and the horror and and be there. Overall, have we seen some of this stuff in other horror movies? Yes. Does it feel like to your point, Binks, can can this be a 2B movie? It could be. There's not really a lot of depth. Really, there isn't a whole lot of depth to this movie when you really think about it, but I think the production value for the film, I think the acting that we get with the characters, I think how well they're able to blend the camp factor in and have some silly one-liners and things like that. I think that just makes it just entertaining enough and fun to watch. They have these what would be serious and horrific moments, but they mix in these really well-placed one-liners that just cut through the intensity and it just makes for a good time. And you don't really think about, you know, is this story deeper than it is? Do I want more out of this character? Do I want more out of this scene? Whatever. You're just having a good time watching it. And I think this might make more sense a little bit later if we get into it. I don't know, in the spoiler zone, we'll see. But I was genuinely surprised and slightly concerned for how many rats and tarantulas were underneath this house. It was concerning.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Listen, sometimes it's infestation.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

Yes, that is true.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

Yeah, that's a little scary and unfortunate. But overall, though, I've shared the fact that the cast is surprising, but ultimately disappointing that I've watched it so many times and it doesn't hit the same. But what has stayed true amongst all three watches is that I have never thought that this film was scary. I really didn't. I don't think that there's much to be scared of, really. I is there gore for sure, but it's too funny to be perceived scary, I'd say.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yeah. No, it's for sure completely safe. Yeah. Absolutely easy. Maybe it's not something to first introduce like a small child to, but I think it's definitely something where if you have family members who are not into horror and you're looking just to have something casual put on in the background, I think this still, despite its core, would be a really good fit. But I do want to say we talked about Better Watch Out just a moment ago, there is an insidious undercurrent in this movie that goes back to those original questions I mentioned at the top part of the episode, which is just looking at who can you trust, who can you not trust. So I think this is one of those things where the movie isn't scary, it's not gonna keep you up at night, but if you're someone who hyperfixates and run through these fucking scenarios in your mind, I think it could give you some interesting things to chew on. Like it's not without substance entirely.

SPEAKER_05 16:14

Here's the thing, yes, I agree. Do not show your young toddlers this film as they are in the babysitting age of their lives.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 16:23

That's very traumatic for the poor child, unless that's your goal and you know, to each their own. But let's just talk about like I feel yeah, not trying to be scary. I think it's just trying to be it's trying to live in horror, and it's giving you some really good old-fashioned horror slasher vibes, but also just trying to be just fun with the whole thing. And maybe that's just gonna be the theme for me for this whole episode. But I do think it it's not try out here trying to give you a bunch of jump scares, it's not trying to build this terror inside of you, it's not trying to build a whole lot of tension and suspense, but it is out here trying to give you some moments that you're gonna have fun with, that you might react to, that you might yell out loud for. And I think it's just all meant for you to have a good time. I think it's fun to watch this with people, you know, more than it is to watch with just yourself on the couch or in bed. I think if you're with somebody or with a group of people, this could be a much more fun viewing experience. But yeah, something that's not gonna make you want to turn the lights on.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

And I don't think it needs to be like a scary movie, you know. I think when we look at some of the other like horror comedies that we've watched, like it really wasn't about being scary. Not that even scary movies scare me because I'm so so brave or whatever. Like, I think like I I've come to understand how Tarantino movies are set in either a universe, right? Or like in a in like a TV show or movie within that universe. I think you know this is a movie that's like it's comedy set in a horror universe. So it's there's horrible things happening that would be scary to those characters, but it's not meant to it's not meant to scare us, it's meant just to entertain us.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

And I think it does a really good job of entertaining us, though, through its very premise. So we have a babysitter movie. Uh typically in horror, when you think about babysitters, you think of When a Stranger Calls, you think of Halloween, you think of any amount of content, even better watch out. There are so many different angles on the babysitter of it all, and this is such a fresh take.

SPEAKER_05 18:31

Truly.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Even if the immediate layer isn't super fresh, right? We talked about like who can you trust, who can you not trust, the violation of trust, or like the violation of a sense of safety, like a false sense of security. That's not uncommon in these movies. But what this movie does narratively to get you there, I really appreciate.

SPEAKER_05 18:51

Yeah, it was well done. There is a lot that this movie is pulling from, you know. You could say it's pulling from Jennifer's Body, right? You have the final girls comes to mind, I feel like, immediately. Maybe even movies like Fear Street or Chopping Mall. Like these are all movies that I feel like fit with the vibe of this movie, but it has elements of all of these movies, but it also has this nice little storyline to your point that allows for it to stand on its own two feet. And so you get like something that you feel like maybe you weren't necessarily expecting to see on your first watch. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

I think what would what seemed similar to other movies to me was just like the feeling of of the movie. We've watched other movies where like it has a very similar tone, and in and in that respect, like something like freaky is up there, Happy Death Day, to where it is this kind of lighter tone, we're not scared of camp, but at the same time we can go hardcore in the gore kind of situation. I think from a storyline standpoint, yeah, it's basic enough, but complex enough, but different enough to stand alone, even though, in effect, you could probably pick like a dozen other movies to where like each portion of this film owes something. But here it's really not even about that. I think it's I think it's mostly about tone and it's about the interaction between two characters, even though there are so many characters in this movie. It's mostly just about the crisis between two of them. And even then, you could dwindle down and say it's honestly just about one character.

SPEAKER_05 20:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

And it would still work, and I think it still stands alone and has a unique feel.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Yeah, unfortunately for me, I think what it comes down to is that all the other cast members are just playing characters that we've seen in a ton of other films. They're all tropes of and stereotypes of other characters in other horror films or in real life, honestly. And so is that the bit? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:44

Might be the bit.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

And that's right. So that's the bit. And but I don't necessarily know if that constituted constitutes this film as original, though. Because every film does it for the bit. Every film has our cheerleader and our really hot guy, and you know, the young teenage boy that is into their babysitter, and like that, all of that is dare I say, is it overplayed yet? Maybe. Hot take. I just I struggle. But I want to highlight in this particular moment the Scott Pilgrim thing because I'm so glad it wasn't just me. I had it in my notes, and I was like, no, I yeah, it was very Scott Pilgrim, uh, obviously Scott Pilgrim, but maybe I'm just gonna be the only one that brings it up. And I didn't, and thank goodness. And also it sounds like we're all on the same page of that too, because Scott Pilgrim ultimately, like the tactics that they're using or adapting from that film doesn't make sense stylistically or like in general, yeah, for what they're even talking about in this movie. So it's again, it it docs the original originality points for me because it just seems like they're trying to gravitate towards a particular audience and the nostalgia of Scott Pilgrim, and then make the fact that it's in 2017. And King Batch is like mega on YouTube at that time. So we're gonna have him in the movie and all of these things to allure a particular age range of people in 2017. And we're just gonna make a movie. And I look, and that's nothing against McGee because I like a lot of the stuff that he makes. So nothing against you, sir, but I call it like I see it.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

You know, and I think Banks, you've got some feelings about how this kind of ties into Scott Pilgrim when it comes to a feeling point of view, right? And I can't wait to get into that more when we get to the sequel, because I think it's gonna have a bigger impact. And that's one of the things I actually liked about the ending of this movie is it is a it like wraps up the story to where this story is complete, but obviously a sequel works. And having seen it, I think it works well. So like you you make it through this movie, it what an ending, great climax. You've got feelings, you've got thoughts, you've got questions, but in reality, like the story has been told, but you're not scared of a sequel. You're not sitting there thinking, ah, they they sequel baited us. You're not you're also not sitting there thinking if they were to make a sequel, it's gonna be horrible, and somebody, a dog's gonna have to pee on a corpse for that to come back. Nah, we don't have to worry about it. It's just like a well-told story, wrapped up well, put a little sprinkle of feels on it, and then move forward. If they didn't make a sequel, this movie works well. Yeah. If they made a third sequel, it would have worked well.

SPEAKER_05 23:24

I haven't seen the actual sequel, so it therefore I can't say if a third one would work well, I'm not sure, but I definitely get where you're coming from. I actually really enjoyed the ending to this movie, despite how absurd and ridiculous it is, and we're gonna talk about that, I'm sure. Maybe I enjoyed the third act more than the actual ending itself, but either way, I feel like it was an ending that felt appropriate for a movie like this. It was pretty predictable, I would say, but still executed well enough to enjoy nonetheless. So I I have no real gripes with it. I feel like it gave you exactly what you would probably expect from this type of movie, and it delivered. But I think overall, probably just all of the events in the third act leading to the ending is what I enjoyed more than the actual very end itself.

SPEAKER_03 24:13

I agree that the ending definitely wraps everything up, it comes full circle. I would asterisk that keep in mind this movie is very dramatic and outlandish. So there are things that happen here that quite literally would never play out the same way in real life. I'm convinced. Obviously. But at that point, when when you're at the ending of this shit show, it's a mixed bag. Oh, hell breaks loose. But it's a fun time. Absolutely. Sequel, interesting how it pivots there. We'll save that for next time.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Yeah, I feel like this movie really just ups the ante with absurdity, and I'm not mad at that. Something that I was curious about because I originally found this ending super satisfying. I was curious about this these final moments we get and how much of an eye roll it feels. And I didn't feel it now, but as you mentioned being with your rewatches, does it still hit? That is one questionable moment where I'm like, ooh, I don't know how this is gonna feel a few years from now. It still works for me, and I think perhaps reinforcing that feeling by watching the sequel will make it feel even better. But we'll see. I think for now, we're fairly aligned on this movie, but I'm curious to see which one of us might be a wild card. Before we actually start reading it, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_05 25:36

Well, there is a lot here when you really look at it. This film is action-packed with stabbings, explosions, shootings, hangings.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Oh my.

SPEAKER_05 25:45

Yeah, oh my. Hell, even cranial impalements, you get all of it, you get all the fun stuff, but all of the violence in gore is also seemingly done in this comedic way, so it doesn't feel as heavy as it would in probably any other horror format. And so even though you get all of this action, it's still giving a happy medium.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_03 26:09

There is a particular kill that might have done some serious collateral damage to aforementioned rats and spiders, but truthfully, in general, I would actually give this baby like a fishy score. I don't wouldn't say that we're safe, but it's a little fishy.

SPEAKER_05 26:24

Are we talking like goldfish level of fishy?

SPEAKER_03 26:27

Very much.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. The babysitter from 2017. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_03 26:33

I can start us off. I'll keep it short and sweet for this one, much like this film. Short, not entirely sweet. The Sour Patch Kids. Very much so. I shared earlier this film is way more camp and ridiculous than I remember it being. It's definitely one you can throw on to have a laugh, and maybe your eyes will widen quite a bit at the gore because the juxtaposition is a lot. But regardless, it's a stupid kind of funny. That's not an insult, it's just, you know, a laugh, a romp. Some of these characters will definitely say some out-of-hand one-liners that will make you laugh, but unfortunately, if you're like me, more often than not, it might make you roll your eyes a bit, or definitely more than you would have anticipated or preferred. The gore and performances themselves were great from a lot of the actors, I'd say, but ultimately, I don't know if it did enough for me on this rewatch to convince me that the film was entirely entertaining and worth my time. So I gotta give this babysitter a hack.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Ooh.

SPEAKER_05 27:32

Don't tell mom the babysitter's dead.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Legitimately. Don't tell mom the babysitter got hacked. Dead.

SPEAKER_05 27:39

Yikes.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

I hope Samara still likes me.

SPEAKER_05 27:42

Here's the thing. I think you have to go into this movie looking for a good time. I think that's the mind space that you wanna be in when you go to see this, right? Or when you go to sit down and watch this, because if you expect this to be some mind-blowing stamp in horror cinema, then you're surely probably going to be disappointed in some way. This movie isn't out here trying to be something that it's not. I feel like this movie it knows exactly what it is and it brings that to the table on a silver platter. I think from the brutally gory scenes filled with the perfect amount of camp to cut through it to the cinematography and some of the great visual shots that we get that kind of bring you back to some of your favorite horror films of the past, I think it does exactly what it set out to do. I think it's set out to deliver a wildly absurd, strangely self-aware teenage slasher that you can just have fun with, blending the 80s and modern day horror together for surprisingly fun viewing experience from start to finish. I think if you're looking for something refreshing to watch, right? Nothing mind-blowing, but just something that you can sit down and have fun with, and just and you're just looking for like a good fun slasher flick, then this one's probably for you. And I think that for me, it's a slash.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Yeah, I I have to agree. This movie is a slash, and it reminds me, like I mentioned, just feeling-wise of several other movies that we've had recently: Happy Death Day, Freaky. And then I was realizing, I was like, wait a second, Samara Weaving was in Ready or Not.

SPEAKER_05 29:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

Ready or Not, very similar tone to this movie, and loved that movie. It's fun, and I think that's what this movie aimed for was fun. And it's like going out for a pizza. If you're gonna go out and have a pizza with some friends, you want to have a good time, you want the pizza to taste good, but you want it to taste like pizza. You don't want it to be some kind of strange surprise where they threw in ingredients that you would never would have thought, right? You want to have pepperoni, you want the cheese, you want the sauce. Maybe this time you want you don't want pepperoni, you want sausage, whatever, right? And so this is like a pizza where they have a little spiciness to the sauce, where it's still the same sauce you love, but it just kicked up a notch. And that's really what you get here is you get really good ingredients, but some of them are just taken up a notch or two. Sometimes that's the gore, sometimes that's the camp. But they take turns with this balancing act of not overdoing it on one thing or the other. So you still have an entire recipe that works well together, but throughout the experience, we kind of oscillate between going even campier or going incredibly gory. And there's parts of the movie where you wouldn't expect the gore to be as high as it is, and they're like, no, let's go crazy with it. Let's just have some fun. And I think that's what you need to take away here. This is all about having fun. Like you said earlier, this is a good movie to watch with other people. I watched this with my wife. We finished and she was like, that was just good. That was a lot of fun to watch. And that's why we watched the sequel right afterwards because we had so much fun watching this one. So absolutely, it is a slash.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Well, I'm absolutely going to echo that sentiment. This movie is an easy watch. And I love the comparison to a good old reliable pizza that's not trying to break the mold, but really just deliver on an experience that you're seeking out. It's known, it's familiar, and it's just good quality. It's a great blend of camp, it's a great blend of wit, gore, and polish. You have to just give Samara Weaving her flowers because she absolutely slays and she brings dimension. And even for the rest of the cast, there are obviously these tropes, they're cliches, they're played out, they're oversaturated, but they also know what they're doing. You love to love them and you love to hate them. And I love the relationship between our two leads because it's a moment and really a snapshot of how the movie exhibits chemistry that feels effortless. Regardless of how ridiculous the characters are or the har how hard they lean into those tropes. It feels like a very different experience than Better Watch Out. And I think I appreciate that more in retrospect. This movie is a fun time, it's an easy, reliable watch, and for that, it still gets a slash. And with that, the babysitter from 2017 has earned one hack and three slashes. Now, as we mentioned, you can find this movie streaming online. Check the link in our show notes to see where you can find it right now. Give it a watch, then join us in the second half so we can unpack this together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Are you tired of flipping through dusty old tones trying to find the perfect hand for your maximum gathering? Struggling to keep your black handle square or doubling perfect squirm and squirming sacrifice. Because the data sky is a little bit of the data thing with pentagrams, really pretty eyes. I mean, look at the structures coming anything from the lowly and the prince of the darkness. Word about clean up with that for then pushing evidence clear, then you can say I'm holy alliance. I'm crafting the perfect allies, the babysitting and note I'm the parents none the wiser. And for those nights in the middle between the world just a tad. I decided exclusive. Even the most discerning of the dark days. So what we're seeing sounding dark out of the head. The babysitter's guide is satanic rituals, it's a most cut man, every complication. Because remember, it's not just about something to eternal darkness, it's about the style. The babysitter's guide to satanic rituals. Because even the forces of evil need a little help now and then.

SPEAKER_05 34:30

We talked about having cranial impalements. You get cranial impalements to titty shots and not the rated R kind. There is a lot to cut into with each of these kills. So let's talk about it. What were your favorite kills?

SPEAKER_03 34:45

I'm I will start. I have to start after that statement you just made that had me aghast. Not the R-rated kind. That was phenomenal. Ironically enough, because my favorite kill was the ongoing bit about Bellothorne being shot in the boob. Mostly because I just feel like that's something that would happen to Bellothorne, like that kind of kill if she was in a horror movie that just tracks so well for the kind of person that she is.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

But that comment was great, Sean.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

It's giving Jennifer's body my tit.

SPEAKER_05 35:17

It's the whole like fact that Allison kept chiming in on random scenes just so you know that she hasn't died yet. You know what I mean? I think that's what got me the most with her because I feel like as I'm looking to get this kill count and I try to do it in order, her name kept sliding down the list somehow. She just was still trucking through. She kept popping up here and there. It was great.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Yeah. And her tit didn't pop. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_05 35:44

That tit did not pop.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

You know, it's absolutely amazing how much there is to say about so many of these kills. I'm gonna go with maybe one that's not my favorite, but I think is worthy of a mention, and then I'll circle back depending on what Mac has. But Sonia and her theatric explosive death underneath the house. Because really what it was for me was her saying, I'm still alive, motherfucker, and then boom, explosion, done. There's no way she's coming out of that.

SPEAKER_05 36:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

I just absolutely loved her character in Pitch Perfect, and I felt like for her to still be quiet and a little unhinged, I absolutely loved that continuity in this movie. And then she was honestly just of all of them, I'd be afraid of her. I wouldn't I know that she could fuck me up.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah, she was here just for the fun of it. That's the scary kind of person right there. It's like she's enjoying doing this. It's not even about the whole like satanic ritual part of it, it's just for the fun. And that was a good kill, it was very explosive. And honestly, that was one of the parts of the movie where I was like, I'm not exactly sure how this is going down. I know it's gonna go down. I just don't know like how it's gonna happen. And I've enjoyed that like little bit of back and forth, cat and mouse kind of situation, but not my favorite call. It's actually really hard to pick a favorite kill because some there's some really good ones, but I think the one that had the most shock value here for me was the sacrifice. It was Samuel with the two knives into the head, you know. It's like stabbing an apple. You never think about going after it like that, but it was like pop pop, right in the head, bleeding out, still standing up the whole time, like uh what's what's going on, you know, trying to figure it out, but his brain ain't quite working anymore.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Yeah. It was long and it was gruesome. It was. And I think that's what's particularly fucked up about Samuel's death. I also love that they immediately start calling him Sacrifice Samuel.

SPEAKER_05 37:24

Sacrifice Samuel.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

As if he's some kid with a back knee in school, you know what I mean? Like you give him a nickname for his sacrifice, just as you would any other thing that you would pick on someone for in school.

SPEAKER_05 37:36

This is true. And there was even a line in the movie where they were just like, go ahead and wipe Sacrifice Samuel off my face. It was interesting. But you love to see like a movie really set the bar with the first kill because that was such a great, just impactful kill, and the way they're just draining his blood and drinking out of it. You know what I mean? Like it was that was by far the most, I feel like, intense kill.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

It was, but you know what else was intense? The absolute final destination bullshit that we get with Max.

SPEAKER_05 38:08

Oh man, falling through the treehouse and then just hanging himself.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Yeah, not a fun time, that just general type of death.

SPEAKER_05 38:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

But all the things that had to happen in order for that to happen, that was one of the many moments I was referring to earlier with the chekhov setup. Because we had that, we had the knives and the dishwasher, we had a race car that felt like it was gonna be tripped on. And granted, some of those objects, the expectations ends up getting subverted, but his in particular was just very much a spectacle.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Something about that actor where you just you want him punished, you know. You want it. I don't I don't think he necessarily has a punchable face. Like maybe he does, I don't know. But like the entire time that he's seemingly a little bit too campy with the way that he's portraying the character, you're like, just take him out, make it a good way, too. And then he just goes out with a whimper. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

I really enjoyed him though, and I felt like, damn, I'd like to see this guy, not in an Oscar Academy Award-winning type of way, but I'd love to see him take a crack at something like American Psycho.

SPEAKER_05 39:12

Oh, okay. I could see that.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

I don't know necessarily about American Psycho. He's Chris Redfield in the latest Resident Evil. So it's a more serious horror film-ish, as serious as Resident Evil can be.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

Yeah. I'm just getting Angel from Buffy, and I never really liked that guy, and I don't know why the two of them have a similar feeling, you know? Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Okay, how many times tonight are we gonna kill Binks with our fucking takes?

SPEAKER_05 39:37

I know this is not a good night for Binx. This is not a good night at all. What the Well listen, it can't be worse than this officer getting impaled through the eye with a fireplace poker and then ripped out of his skull, tearing his face off.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:53

You know what I mean? At least it can't be worse than that.

SPEAKER_03 39:57

It can't. It can't. The pain that I'm feeling is not it's not equal to how much that must have hurt. That is for sure. That's without us out. Also, I would even John or King Batch or whatever, like his character, when he gets pushed off the top of the stairs and he lands on that. Oh god, it's just through the neck.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

Oh yeah. That was gross. It was giving me home alone vibes for sure.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

Home alone, definitely. And still a little bit more of that final destination stuff. Not as to the extreme as Max, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

But I do think they did a good job on the gore when it was appropriate. So when we get the exploding head later on, okay, we got hit with a shotgun, that that balloon popped. And they did a good job with that, but like not every kill had to be that extreme. But the ones that were extreme, like they they went 100% on them. And I appreciate that. I don't think it was necessarily like the best thing to look at visually. I think there was a lot going on here. Like production quality was honestly insane for this movie. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I don't like what did they do? Were they just like, here's money, just make a movie, or did they just find someone with really good taste to make this movie? There's just something about it to where it just looks really polished. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:08

Mick G. McG has a lot of money. He is the executive producer and producer of so many things, it's astronomical.

SPEAKER_05 41:17

There just isn't a lot of like overdone things to have to. I'd be curious. I haven't looked it up like what the budget was that they had or what they spent to make this movie, but I gotta imagine like you have the seven kills. Outside of that, you can't be spending much, you know what I mean? Because you just have to worry about seven kills. Not all of them are super crazy as far as the visuals that you get, but to your point, Mac, they've got a few in there that just really deliver the goods and it's done really well from a gore aspect, the movie from a production aspect.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

I think I don't know. Yeah, there's but there's something that just it pops, like visually pops, and it might just be literally the color of this movie. It's a very bright movie.

SPEAKER_05 41:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

And that was great, honestly, to differentiate between characters, to have a the cheerleader in a bright yellow, like that was a good choice. To have other characters in stark black and white, or to have a character shirtless, basically the whole movie, and to get those skin tones on screen. But everything like had a very natural look, but it was heightened. It wasn't super dee duper saturated, but it was very, very bright. Not quite comic book bright. Thank goodness. They didn't go full Scott Pilgrim there, like we mentioned earlier. But there's just like a lot of richness, I think, on screen here. Blood, when it's blood, it's red. Yeah. We're not getting this like muted kind of tone, even though there is a softness to everything. But I think that was my favorite thing about it. It's just it's so bright, it's so vivid that it it takes this the story and just makes it feel richer just by how good it looks.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

There is so much in this movie that pops, and I you're talking about how vivid it is, and I'm thinking about something that was absolutely gorgeous to look at, which was the movie time in the backyard with a projector and the fog. Something about that made me think, damn, I need to set up a projector in my backyard. It was such an inviting moment, and I really love the feeling that it creates because it also heightens and underscores really the relationship between the two of them. It just seemed so pure and welcoming and comfortable. I know I mentioned how much I dislike the title cards. That is a very weird choice for me. You all mentioned the Scott Pilgrim of it all. Maybe that's an inspiration. I can't really say one way or another. But another thing that I really enjoyed, and this is a very specific niche thing, maybe Spooky by Dusty Springfield is one of my favorite songs. And I know that it's technically about a guy who's probably an asshole and a super fickle, whatever. But I've always thought I want someone to think that love is crazy with a spooky little Chris Rojas, you know what I mean? It's just like one of those things, it always touches my heart. And so to hear it in this movie. Great moment.

SPEAKER_05 44:01

It was full of great moments, particularly with their song choices, because I feel like the soundtrack to this film was on point from the start of the movie to the end of the movie. Because you got that song in there, and I feel like it was just their song choices were almost scarily on point in some of the scenes. Like you get the scene and it delivers a song that just beautifully matches with that scene. And I thought it was really well done.

SPEAKER_03 44:27

I had the same note. I I will give it its flowers for that. I think that was really impressive, and what kind of kept me re-engaged, or rather, I don't know, it set the tone. If I hadn't watched the movie so many times, I would have felt like this is a great comedy film. I definitely remember that being one of the biggest takeaways from the first watch. And I almost wonder is there like a vinyl of this or like it like the score? Like that's some almost something that I would love to have purchased, if anything, because it is times so well and it's curated very uniquely for a film that's like this, that's so campy, that's so of the era, with a cast that it has. Most of those people don't even really listen to some of those songs.

SPEAKER_05 45:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Now, what I will say in terms of score and soundtrack and whatnot, my favorite scene when I'm watching it, and or rather, when I watched it, there's a couple of hit horror film songs or scores that I was thinking of as it was happening that would fit. Like, you know what I mean? Like when you watch a scene and you just dub it with any other creepy song, would have hit perfectly. And it is when he's asleep in his room and pretends that he's knocked out, and it's discovered that she's in the corner of the room watching, fully aware that he was pretending this whole time. Like that whole bit, when they go in, they're gonna he's awake, but they're pricking him. He has to stay calm. Then he's like running around afterward. Like that whole sequence was so great. And I think just the moment where you where it's revealed that she's in the corner is a great moment to just dub with all these other like super creepy scores, whether it be Halloween, whether it be even The Exorcist, I don't know, anything that would have been great.

SPEAKER_05 46:05

That was a really good scene. I have two scenes that I want to talk about. I got a funny scene, and I've got for me a visually really just well done scene.

SPEAKER_01 46:16

I hope the funny scene was the hand job.

SPEAKER_05 46:18

No, it's not the hand job. It's the scene where John gets the cops' blood all over him, and he's already has the first dude's blood all over him, and he just goes on that hilarious tangent. He's what does he say? Two out of four people got an STD. I got two people's blood on me. You do the math, I got AIDS. I know I got AIDS, and I know, like, listen, in most in any other format, probably not a really funny joke to make, but this was the way it was delivered was fucking top-notch, and it was fucking funny, and it hit.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

No, it's some good solid comedy for sure. There is actually another instance of comedy that made me laugh, and it was the sudden cut to his mom and dad, and she's giving the most absolute obligatory, disconnected favor to him while he's in bed, and it re- it reintroduces the setup earlier where we talk about the knife having gone back to the butcher block. So we had the knife that was in the dishwasher, and it was just left there, and then this is the moment where she reveals, oh, wait, no, that knife went back away. We're introduced to this thing, we're expecting it from another setup earlier in the movie, and then they use this break in comedy that is already really jarring to say, gotcha, and it breaks it up a bit. So it was a good laugh. I don't I can't think of any other application in a movie where something like that would work for me, but this one did.

SPEAKER_03 47:42

Same. I cracked up. That was a that's a that one really hit all three times. Because it also just portrays them as like the most vanilla marriage ever, truthfully.

SPEAKER_05 47:53

Just a terrible dying relationship, just going through the emotions, literally.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Ups and downs of it all.

SPEAKER_00 48:03

I I think my favorite scene was a comedic scene as well. And it's it's Jeremy. Jeremy literally exists for comic relief, and when he shows up in the middle of everything going down, and they have that back and forth, and Max is suddenly instead of trying to kill this kid, he's gonna try to help him in his final moments. Okay, that was just funny because on the one hand it's kind of make any sense, but also I can see Max doing that. It just works for his character for whatever reason, and he's so he's trying to help him out and to show Jeremy who's boss or whatever. And does he? Of course not. There's no way he can. And then he still tells him what's going on and asks for help. But does he help him? Of course not. It just the characters are being themselves and he nopes out of there and it's brilliant. And for Jeremy to have that random appearance in the middle of the night, right? Right, and you think like maybe he's got a maybe he's got a way out of this. Come on, you know better. You know that we're not there in the movie, it's not the end of the movie, we're almost there, but there's no way he's gonna help this kid in all actuality. And it was just like a great little moment because it was a break from the intensity, that nice comedic little break, uh, but then we fall right back into it right afterwards. I just I don't know. It was a really good time.

SPEAKER_05 49:11

Yeah. Jeremy was just great every time he saw Jeremy on screen, it was just hilarious. I think my non-comedic favorite scene though, I do want to talk about that. And I think the scene where Cole runs into Melanie's house, and we get that shot of them hiding behind the bottom of the staircase, and we can see B standing in the doorway with the moonlight beaming through. Perfect fucking lighting, beautiful shot, great shot. We also love a good Scooby-Doo shot where the antagonist is stalking or chasing them through the house as they walk one way, the protagonists run across the screen going the other way. I mean, come on. It was a great it was a great scene.

SPEAKER_00 49:52

It does have kind of a Scooby-Doo feel, doesn't it? I like that. I didn't even think about that, but like now that you mention it, it it is a good moment. Yeah. I had a good time with it.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

Not that it necessarily is a favorite scene, but I just wanted to talk about John in general, because I keep bringing up the actor because I would watch, whether it be on purpose or not, a lot of his YouTube videos. But I think in general, his introduction and even the banter between him and Allison at the beginning is just so funny. I in general, the introductions of all these characters are great, and I will give it props for that because you just jump right into how ridiculous they are and how again the stereotypes are unfolding immensely. You've got the dumb little social media crazed cheerleader, the guy who is like super hot and he knows it, all of these different facets of people. And then again, even with John, he's just like the jokester who is just thrown in here. Again, the popular guy, I'll I'll say that, but I loved his jokes one after the other after the other. And what sucks is that's kind of the trope in and of itself, or that's the stereotype in and of itself, right? That whole part is also layered, but I loved every single one of the characters' introductions, in particular his.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

Yeah, I think he was such a shining part of this movie for me, just because I remember watching his videos on Vine, and he really was an entire moment. I absolutely really enjoyed him, but that's what I'm talking about. Like these characters have no business being as charismatic as they were, and I'm kind of a mixed bag when it comes to Bella Thorne in particular, but this is probably my favorite role that she's done, maybe because I don't have to take it very seriously, and she really leans into the camp of who this character is supposed to be. But just to think about a them as an ensemble supporting Samara Weaving, and as dynamic as she was, like we get introduced to her as B when she's coming to his defense, and you believe their chemistry, you believe their relationship, and it just feels so wholesome. So to see the arc that she has from the beginning of the movie to the end, I feel like this movie did a really great job of just fleshing out who these people were, even though we didn't need to know a ton more than they're coming around, they're doing some culty shit, and it gets it gets fucked up.

SPEAKER_05 52:21

Yeah. You know, I think what this film does really well is what they do with these characters as a whole, like this whole ensemble of characters, because you know, we're talking about which characters we like and how they showed up in the film and how they're portrayed, right? And I think in the original script for this movie, everyone was kind of different, right? Sonia was the cheerleader, Allison was the journalist for the school paper, right? It was kind of switched around. John was called John the Baptist, and Max had dreadlocks, so it was a completely different thing, right? But the brilliant thing that they did with this movie is said, fuck that, we're gonna do it this way, and the characters were reimagined, right, to more closely reflect stereotypes of our, you know, what we see as victims in most slasher films.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_05 53:13

But they flipped it and made they these group of people the antagonist, which is I think pretty hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 53:21

Absolutely. And then when we think of Samar Wavings in particular, her not the character, but just the actress's portrayal, right? It's crazy to think that in the same year that she did this film, she did three billboards outside um, I think it's Ebbing, Missouri. And that one won some serious awards that year. A very serious film, if you haven't seen it, like very tough to watch, very big drama film that was popular that year. But it's like, how did you do both films in the same year? It's just so interesting because she's you could tell right off the bat that she's gonna be really great, she's funny, she's got great timing, she's got a little bit of intimidation factor to her for sure in this film. But then if you know her, whether it be from that film in that same year, or obviously just give us a beat later on, and then of course we've got ready or not. It's just nice to see her so young and this be the US breakout film, I would imagine. I maybe I'm wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure this is like her breakout film in the US at least, to be playing two very different roles in the same year is cool.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

And then we got her in Scream Six.

SPEAKER_03 54:31

And then we got yeah, yeah. Next to that, though, her counterpart is this guy, Judah Lewis, that I have to say it, you mentioned Pitch Perfect earlier, Chris. Tell me that you didn't think that this guy was Haley Steinfeld's twin. I remember the first time I watched that movie, the second time, the third time, every single fucking time that I saw him on screen, I was like, oh, that's right. This is the movie with the kid that looks like Haley Steinfeld. And then this time around, though, I was like, let me fact-check myself and see if I'm the only crazy person that thought this. And I am not. I have receipts, we can put it in the show notes. I am not the only one that was convinced that these people were related because there are so many images of both of them t side by side. I could see it. It's nuts.

SPEAKER_05 55:25

I could see it a little bit, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 55:27

It's honestly uncanny. It's uncanny and it distracted me for a good while in terms of the rewatch. I gotta be real. It was a little hard to focus sometimes and take him seriously. Because I was like, are we positive this isn't Hiley St Haley Steinfeld? Are we positive?

SPEAKER_01 55:42

They're related somehow, but some distant way. Get some 23andMe on this shit. Apparently they're not, they swear. I guarantee somewhere on the line.

SPEAKER_00 55:50

To the bottom of this. I'm looking at the photo now, and I'm a believer.

SPEAKER_01 55:54

And I saw their face. Is it not crazy?

SPEAKER_05 55:58

It's pretty good. It's pretty close for sure. That's a that's funny. Man.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

Now, when you rewatch this film, you're never gonna see the same way.

SPEAKER_00 56:06

I do want to go back and give some credit to some of the other characters, though, because I love Leslie Bibb. Such such a good time, always and everything. But the mom and the dad here, we have so many characters that are like merely just here for, I feel like just comic relief and just grounding out of all the insanity that's going on in the movie. And they're so much fun on screen together simply because they don't really have the right chemistry, but there's something there between them, but it's not right. And it like works really well for a couple that is not quite perfect, yeah, and is not doing so hot. I don't know. It's just like pure comedy. I really love the fact that they chose these actors to portray these characters. It works, it really works really well on screen. I think, like we've mentioned, Jeremy also great comic relief as a bully. He's so, I don't know, like lackadaisical almost. Like he's it's almost like he's into bullying, but kind of like whatever, dude. Yeah, doesn't really care too much about it. That was a lot of fun as well. Even Sacrifice Samuel is also comic relief, sadly enough for him.

SPEAKER_05 57:06

Of course, dude, the neighbor girl's dad. Oh gosh, was like one of the best characters in the movie. He was the most hilarious douchebag of all time with the NASCAR comment and then the hose pose. Like, what the fuck is going on with this guy?

SPEAKER_01 57:21

Again, another character you love to hate.

SPEAKER_05 57:25

Of course. Yeah. We love to hate it, we love to see it.

SPEAKER_01 57:29

There's no one in this movie that I just feel completely indifferent to.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 57:33

You connect with them, and that is a well-performed role.

SPEAKER_00 57:35

That is such a good point. I really don't recall anybody where I was kind of like, oh, uh, whatever, just move on from them. Everybody you meet, it's like being in it's like playing a tabletop RPG or something. Like each character is pretty well defined. They sat down and did some good planning or worked with the actors to make sure that everybody had a little niche to live in.

SPEAKER_05 57:55

I think even the chemistry between B and Cole, I think, was really good in the film. I think they worked well with each other, but I also think Samara Weaving or whatever, I I feel like the way that she went about this film, I think she added a lot of value to the film. From what I heard, from what I read about this film, is she did some kind of impromptu things, one of the things with the spin the bottle and and doing that makeout session that was not in the script. She just was like, I'm gonna go ahead and do this.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

A big part of how well they worked together was her. Yeah. Because even in the shots where we just get her while she's still the good, loving, caring babysitter, you do get the like girl next door kind of feeling where she just seems like just too nice, too sweet, like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop because it it's almost too perfect. And of course, it is in this film too perfect. But even, of course, for this character, she still cares and and and realizes that she feels bad about what happened and by the end of the movie. But yeah, I mean, there's just like her delivery of this as you're first starting out together. You're just like, oh, I want that babysitter. She seems awfully nice. What a sweet person to have in your life, but also cool because she can connect with them. When they get to that thing about picking your intergalactic dream team, yeah. I'm like, oh man, that would be some vibes right there if somebody were to ask me those kind of questions. That's fantastic. A good time.

SPEAKER_01 59:15

Well, I think we know who Mac wished babysitter him as a child. Maybe that's why you slash this movie because your inner child is satisfied. But you know what? I get it.

SPEAKER_00 59:23

You know, with the long hair and everything, it just it it works. The olive shirt jacket thing. Yeah, it was a it was a good time.

SPEAKER_01 59:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:32

Because she's she's presented in in an angelic way, even though she's quite the opposite here. Right.

SPEAKER_01 59:38

For sure. I agree with you. She's obviously one of the best parts of this movie. But I gotta just really take it back to how fucking weird those title cards were, specifically pocket knife bitches. There were so many of these moments that it felt like a big red rubber stamp, like a big siren flashing that we didn't actually need. It felt like the horror comedy version of the James Wan flashbacks in Saul that roll you back to something that happened mere seconds ago, and it was just unnecessary. I feel like if I were to re-watch this movie and I could do some kind of fan edit, it would just be to remove those.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:17

Interesting. I think for me, I think for me, I don't know how I feel about the random still frames with the captions. I feel like I get why they tried to do it. I get that they tried to go this campy and fun route, but it just felt strange and out of place. It felt like that idea just should have stayed on paper.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:37

Yeah, I I can't wait for us to get to the sequel because they they really take those kind of moments and increase them. And I want I don't want to be alone in my suffering. So yeah. Oh boy, I can't wait. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:48

You know, I was debating watching that shit right after this episode. Nah, we're good. I'll pass.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:53

Well, it's a little late for that, but I would say when you get a chance, I I I think it's I think it's worth diving in, especially while this is still like fresh in your brain, so you can compare the two. It's really hard for me to find a worse part of this movie. There's not a lot that annoyed me, except for uh Robbie Amel or ML or however you say his name. For some reason, I just don't like the guy, and I don't know. His character in this film was so spot on, though, but I just don't like that type of character. I think that's what it is. It's like a character you're supposed to hate, and I just don't enjoy that. But if we have to get nitty-gritty and start nitpicking and stuff like that, I think there's something totally different about the discovery phase of this. So he's watching everything unfold and it's zany and it's crazy, and then he hides back and slinks in his room. And that like whole like planning to escape sequence where it's dark in the room and he's gonna put the bed sheets down, and then like one, they're gonna see you through a window. So that part didn't make a lot of sense to me unless you are really fast at it. But like something changed in the tone in that moment, especially when he finally does go out the window and fall and all that kind of stuff. I don't know, it's weird. It's like almost like a different movie is spliced in for those scenes. And it's probably just because it's in the middle of the night and it's dark and it's him alone and her alone in the room, and she knows that he knows that she knows. But I think that was probably just like my least enjoyable part of the movie. I don't want to say it's worse because it's not that it's bad. It's just I didn't enjoy that as much as everything else that goes on.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:24

Well, I guess I won't have to do a worse part, which is great, because I think I've said that plenty. Best part, I'll circle it right back to the start of this, which is the smarter weaving of it all, because she really nailed it. I think she's very entertaining to watch. I think it's nice to see almost like an origin story in a way, at least again, her in the US scene. And it's so weird to watch her be the antagonist, you know, when you know her as the final girl, if anything. So I think that's kind of cool in terms of watching this movie. But that being said, I will not be re-watching this movie at all. Oh I can only see myself throwing this on if I wanted to laugh while I was like cleaning my bedroom and it was in the living room. Like that kind of vibe. I don't want to have to sit down and watch this, but as I'm traversing my house and cleaning and doing errands and things, if I hear the funny one-liners, I'm gonna be like, ha, that's good. And then I keep washing, or I, you know, water my flowers outside, that kind of vibe. That's the circumstance.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:34

I think I want to paint a picture because I'm not gonna re-watch this anytime soon, but I do have an idea of how I want to do this. The next time I have to babysit, I'm watching a collection of babysitter-themed movies. I'd like to air to horror, but don't tell mom the babysitter's dead, and I know that's getting a remake soon. You can't be mad at it, right? There's a lot of good shit out there. But give me all the Halloween movies in which there are babysitters. Then give me this. Then give me when a stranger calls, when a stranger calls back, and when a stranger calls a remake, and then I'm sure I can find some more. But I want a whole marathon of that shit. Maybe a little better watch out, maybe it's something around the holidays. I just need some good shit to go. I need a theme.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:18

While you're babysitting or getting ready to babysit.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:22

No, while I'm babysitting, this kid is gonna suffer whoever they are.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:25

Oh boy. Well, listen, I saw this once a year or two back. I watched it now. I felt like on this watch it was just as fun as the first watch, but maybe that's because I haven't seen it more than twice. Maybe it's because there was a healthy distance between both watchings. But either way, I feel like I would still watch this one again, depending on when I watch the sequel, because I feel like as bad as everyone's making it sound, I probably still have to get through it. And if I watch that far enough away from today, I'll probably end up re-watching this one to go into that one. So we'll see. But either way, it will probably get re-watched.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:08

I can definitely see a scenario where I would easily re-watch this. Okay, so the first time it's me and my wife watching it, we have a good time. The next time I'm gonna watch this is going to be with family or friends, and somebody's like, ah, dude, let's watch a movie. What should we watch? Something quick. I don't want to I don't want one of those three-hour movies. And it's gonna be like, oh, I got something that's gonna be good for you. You're gonna have a good time with it. Get the popcorn out, have the pizza ready, eat the tacos or the wings, whatever you want to do. It's just gonna be us hanging out, laughing at a movie. We can talk during it. It's not that serious. We're gonna have a good time with it. That's when I would rewatch this.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Well, I love that you have a thorough rewatch plan. It sounds like maybe even a little bit more thorough than mine. I know I talked about a theme, but I love that you have a specific vision. But for now, there you have it, folks. The babysitter from 2017 has earned one hack and three slashes. We've certainly had a robust discussion here, but it doesn't end here. By any means.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

We want to know what you think. Do you have a cult leader babysitter? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. Click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:10

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, don't ask us to babysit, just consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com/slash hacker slash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:21

We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, no whining. Save some dignity.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:25

Breathe in. Breathe out. Unclench that sphincter.