Acting and story are tops. The babysitter is an otherworldly-looking, eerie kind of character. The 12-year-old, upon first seeing her, asks, "Are you real?" She looks like she's stepped out of a dream,mesmerizing, hypnotizing. And she works her way into this family of three--mother father daughter--wealthy, living in a large house on the water outside of Seattle, and she wreaks her awful havoc. The story moves along, and your eyes are glued to the screen, as you watch the whole thing work its way to its conclusion. The females in this movie are impressive--that would be the mother, daughter and babysitter. And of course, William Shatner as the father/husband--the ultimate likable good-guy. Skilled movie makers and actors (and writers) put this thing together and they came out with a polished, entertaining product.
26 Reviews
Different from what I was expecting, and not bad at all
shino9 September 2005
My TIVO is programmed to get William Shatner films since he's usually so much fun to watch in action. But he proved relatively restrained in his role.
Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from this film, perhaps a kitschy hour and a half of entertainment.
I've never seen Remingston Steele, so as soon as a young Zimbalist comes on the screen I could no help thinking "wow, who is that?" She is very convincing in the role of an enigmatic housekeeper who works her way into the family of Shatner and Duke-Astin.
The film begins at a slow pace, but has the saving grace of not falling into the typical and predictable TV movie of the week plot.
The acting is very good all around, as well as Zimbalist, Duke-Astin and John Houseman turn in good performances.
I was surprised to see on IMDb after watching the film that it was directed by Peter Medak. I greatly respect Medak for his work in _The Changeling_ (1980), _The Krays_ (1990) and _Romeo is Bleeding_ (1993), all non-mainstream highly-respected (nearly cult) films. It is really surprising that Medak seems to weave between these films and TV sitcoms, movies of the week, and so on. His influence in creating the proper mood is, in retrospect, dominant in the film.
As someone else mentioned, the sound quality is quite bad and it is at times difficult to make out the dialog.
Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from this film, perhaps a kitschy hour and a half of entertainment.
I've never seen Remingston Steele, so as soon as a young Zimbalist comes on the screen I could no help thinking "wow, who is that?" She is very convincing in the role of an enigmatic housekeeper who works her way into the family of Shatner and Duke-Astin.
The film begins at a slow pace, but has the saving grace of not falling into the typical and predictable TV movie of the week plot.
The acting is very good all around, as well as Zimbalist, Duke-Astin and John Houseman turn in good performances.
I was surprised to see on IMDb after watching the film that it was directed by Peter Medak. I greatly respect Medak for his work in _The Changeling_ (1980), _The Krays_ (1990) and _Romeo is Bleeding_ (1993), all non-mainstream highly-respected (nearly cult) films. It is really surprising that Medak seems to weave between these films and TV sitcoms, movies of the week, and so on. His influence in creating the proper mood is, in retrospect, dominant in the film.
As someone else mentioned, the sound quality is quite bad and it is at times difficult to make out the dialog.
I love this kind of stuff
BandSAboutMovies24 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The ABC Friday Night Movie for November 28, 1980, The Babysitter was directed by Peter Medak, who was also in the chair for movies like The Changeling, Cry for the Strangers, Zorro the Gay Blade, Romeo Is Bleeding, Species II and The Ruling Class. What an amazing lineup of films to have on your resume and such a disparate list of movies.
Dr. Jeff Benedict and his wife Liz (TV movie supercouple William Shatner and Patty Duke) have moved from Seattle to Chicago. Between their daughter Tara (Quinn Cummings, The Goodbye Girl) and the demands of housework, Liz isn't doing so well. That means they bring in a live-in nanny named Joanna Redwine (Stephanie Zimbalist, before Remington Steele) and that's when things go to seed.
Before you can say movie of the week, Joanna has Liz drinking again and convinced that Jeff has a mistress. While that game is afoot, she's also trying to convince Jeff that loading his clown into her cannon while wifey is passed out is beyond a good idea
This is when you fire the babysitter. That said - if they did, we would not have the next hour and change of this movie.
Before it's over, the bodies of the last family Joanna killed - wrapped in plastic a half decade before Laura Palmer - have showed up, she's wearing Patty Duke's lingerie and served up a dinner of raw beef tongue. The family is lucky that they know John Houseman, who saves them all.
I have a weakness for both made for TV movies and ones where babysitters slowly drive a family insane. This movie is at the center of this magnificent cycle and must be experienced. These TV movies are exploitation films, with small budgets and insane stories, that scream at you the entire time they are on the screen.
Dr. Jeff Benedict and his wife Liz (TV movie supercouple William Shatner and Patty Duke) have moved from Seattle to Chicago. Between their daughter Tara (Quinn Cummings, The Goodbye Girl) and the demands of housework, Liz isn't doing so well. That means they bring in a live-in nanny named Joanna Redwine (Stephanie Zimbalist, before Remington Steele) and that's when things go to seed.
Before you can say movie of the week, Joanna has Liz drinking again and convinced that Jeff has a mistress. While that game is afoot, she's also trying to convince Jeff that loading his clown into her cannon while wifey is passed out is beyond a good idea
This is when you fire the babysitter. That said - if they did, we would not have the next hour and change of this movie.
Before it's over, the bodies of the last family Joanna killed - wrapped in plastic a half decade before Laura Palmer - have showed up, she's wearing Patty Duke's lingerie and served up a dinner of raw beef tongue. The family is lucky that they know John Houseman, who saves them all.
I have a weakness for both made for TV movies and ones where babysitters slowly drive a family insane. This movie is at the center of this magnificent cycle and must be experienced. These TV movies are exploitation films, with small budgets and insane stories, that scream at you the entire time they are on the screen.
Before The hand that rocks the cradle there was THE BABYSITTER....
triple815 April 2004
When I first saw "hand that rocks the cradle" I remember thinking this premise had been done before in a really chilling TV movie. Couldn't remember the title. For some reason I thought it was The nanny.(Haha). Well, it came back to me so here's my review of the babysitter.
I can't call this anywhere near a good movie but I liked it when I saw it mainly because the whole "stalker movie" genre had not been overdone as of yet-or maybe I was just to young to care.
At any rate-this follows a very similar premise to cradle-I guess Joanna was more a housesitter then a nanny, though I seem to remember it differently. It doesn't matter though because if you know the plot of hand that rocks the cradle you know the plot of the babysitter. For some reason, though-and maybe it was because of the then newness of the premise this TV movie scared the heck out of me.
It is more chilling then cradle, less campy. Joanna, whose name I remembered after all this time, is genuinely frightening. I wouldn't mind seeing this again mainly because this was an early stalker movie and I'd like to see if it still chilled me as much.It's hard to do a complete review as the movie's a bit of a blur to me but I do remember the story as being dark and really creepy. I don't remember any gore-if it were to come out now I'm sure it'd be laughed at by many but back then, when the premise was still new it was pretty darn good thriller material, if not a genuinely good movie. For Genuine fans of cradle though, this is a must see.
I can't call this anywhere near a good movie but I liked it when I saw it mainly because the whole "stalker movie" genre had not been overdone as of yet-or maybe I was just to young to care.
At any rate-this follows a very similar premise to cradle-I guess Joanna was more a housesitter then a nanny, though I seem to remember it differently. It doesn't matter though because if you know the plot of hand that rocks the cradle you know the plot of the babysitter. For some reason, though-and maybe it was because of the then newness of the premise this TV movie scared the heck out of me.
It is more chilling then cradle, less campy. Joanna, whose name I remembered after all this time, is genuinely frightening. I wouldn't mind seeing this again mainly because this was an early stalker movie and I'd like to see if it still chilled me as much.It's hard to do a complete review as the movie's a bit of a blur to me but I do remember the story as being dark and really creepy. I don't remember any gore-if it were to come out now I'm sure it'd be laughed at by many but back then, when the premise was still new it was pretty darn good thriller material, if not a genuinely good movie. For Genuine fans of cradle though, this is a must see.
bizarre editing, poor sound mixing, and other problems
JamieWJackson5 January 2015
This had potential, and it actually did realize some of it. However, the dialog is hard to hear in places, and the editing is just bizarre, several times jumping from a tense moment straight to another scene without resolving anything.
My biggest objection, though, is more fundamental: for the first two-thirds or so of the movie, the fascinating "babysitter" seems to have some kind of supernatural... something. It's never clarified what, but she seems to be almost mesmerizing people on occasion; at another moment, she is unfazed by a car nearly hitting her, almost as though she is in control of the situation more than the driver is. Then in the last third or so, that "something" seems to vanish and she is just a crazy young woman.
Zimbalist is captivatingly beautiful here and seems game to bring her character to life, and the other players are all fine in their roles. However, the story just doesn't quite make sense in spots and the relationships feel hurky-jerky. A bit more time invested into the writing would have helped, as would a better job on the sound mixing and the editing. Lacking those things, I can only give this a 4, as I ended up just wondering what the point of this was. Still, if you're a fan of stalker/psycho movies, or of Shatner or Zimbalist (or anyone else here), you will probably enjoy this at least a little bit.
My biggest objection, though, is more fundamental: for the first two-thirds or so of the movie, the fascinating "babysitter" seems to have some kind of supernatural... something. It's never clarified what, but she seems to be almost mesmerizing people on occasion; at another moment, she is unfazed by a car nearly hitting her, almost as though she is in control of the situation more than the driver is. Then in the last third or so, that "something" seems to vanish and she is just a crazy young woman.
Zimbalist is captivatingly beautiful here and seems game to bring her character to life, and the other players are all fine in their roles. However, the story just doesn't quite make sense in spots and the relationships feel hurky-jerky. A bit more time invested into the writing would have helped, as would a better job on the sound mixing and the editing. Lacking those things, I can only give this a 4, as I ended up just wondering what the point of this was. Still, if you're a fan of stalker/psycho movies, or of Shatner or Zimbalist (or anyone else here), you will probably enjoy this at least a little bit.
Strangely interesting
cwillis_m8 February 2002
This movie was pretty descent. A few times I wasn't sure where it was going, but it always seemed to keep me interested. It kept pulling me back in. I guess that is a way I could put it. I really like how the movie was photographed. It added to the overall mood of it.
The sound man owes me my money back
exitaza29 August 2005
I love the players in this movie with all my heart, but what a poorly produced piece of work. There were whole scenes in that the dialog just simply disappeared into background noise, not that the plot was that hard to follow, but please.
Stephanie Zimbalist was stunningly beautiful, Little Quinn Cummings was adorable (and acted impressively), Patty Duke played the emotional wreck of a housewife to a tee, and William Shatners hair was 6 inches tall. What else could you ask for?
It would be interesting if someone would take this thing back to the editing room and make a movie out of it.
Stephanie Zimbalist was stunningly beautiful, Little Quinn Cummings was adorable (and acted impressively), Patty Duke played the emotional wreck of a housewife to a tee, and William Shatners hair was 6 inches tall. What else could you ask for?
It would be interesting if someone would take this thing back to the editing room and make a movie out of it.
Apple of Discord
rmax30482316 March 2002
I wonder how many times we've seen this movie in one or another guise. They usually have names like "The Babysitter," "Seduction of the Babysitter," "The Girl Next Door," "The Crush," "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", or something like that. The plot is generic. A juicy young woman comes into proximity with an utterly bourgeois family, insinuates herself, and befouls the family dynamics. A deletion here, a switch of identities there, a minor substitution -- but the underlying theme remains the same. If Claude Levi-Strauss hadn't wasted his time on Tsimshian myths, he could have done a delightful number on films like this.
One can understand why, in this case, the husband might feel a certain attraction for the ever-so-available young woman. Stephanie Zimbalist is a delight to watch. She's not only beautiful, she moves well too. Women, through no fault of their own, generally run as if they were mimicking the most flamboyant kind of homosexual. But Stephanie Zimbalist has real momentum and comes in only slightly behind Emma Peel in "The Avengers." Her bosom is enticingly small which, in this case, only reinforces the impression of sinewy athleticism.
These kinds of movies are easy to watch. They go down like pablum. And it's so easy to ignore the finer points of the plot while imagining dandling Stephanie or Alicia or Rebecca on an avuncular knee. And there really is little downside. The nuclear families to begin with are so dull, so unimaginative, so happy with themselves, that a bit of a nudge is in order anyway. It's a male fantasy from beginning to end, and not badly done if one cares for such things.
One can understand why, in this case, the husband might feel a certain attraction for the ever-so-available young woman. Stephanie Zimbalist is a delight to watch. She's not only beautiful, she moves well too. Women, through no fault of their own, generally run as if they were mimicking the most flamboyant kind of homosexual. But Stephanie Zimbalist has real momentum and comes in only slightly behind Emma Peel in "The Avengers." Her bosom is enticingly small which, in this case, only reinforces the impression of sinewy athleticism.
These kinds of movies are easy to watch. They go down like pablum. And it's so easy to ignore the finer points of the plot while imagining dandling Stephanie or Alicia or Rebecca on an avuncular knee. And there really is little downside. The nuclear families to begin with are so dull, so unimaginative, so happy with themselves, that a bit of a nudge is in order anyway. It's a male fantasy from beginning to end, and not badly done if one cares for such things.
made for tv
films-2253719 February 2020
The premise isn't anything new, but given that at the time of this review the movie is 40 years old that shouldn't be held to much against it. The performances are fine and it does have some familiar faces in the cast. It's a very homogenized film with a melodramatic ending which makes sense since it was made for TV. It's not the worst choice you could make, but there are a ton of much better "someone invades a family" movies to watch. Fatal Attraction, The Hand the Rocks the Cradle, Lolita and Fear to name a few.
The Babysitter
HorrorFan198412 July 2020
A family thinks they've hit gold when they hire the almost perfect Joanna Redwine as The Babysitter. They'll soon find out that they should have done a background check first.
The Benedict family just moved into a beautiful house on the water just outside of Seattle. Tara is a spoiled problem child for her parents Jeff and over protective/worrying mom Liz. One day while outside playing, Tara sees this beautiful 18 year old girl named Joanna. She's very mysterious and almost mesmerizing in the way she talks and walks around, and she grabs a hold of young Tara's impressionable innocence. After we see her cause Liz to get into a car accident, Liz decides to hire Joanna as her live in nanny for the summer responsible for cooking/cleaning and taking care of young Tara.
All is well at first. Tara and Joanna get along perfectly, Joanna cooks amazing food for the family, and she starts a deep friendship with Liz. The friendship seems caring at first, with Joanna helping Liz with her self confidence as a mother and wife, but quickly turns a bit dark as she starts pushing Liz to drink after a year of sobriety. Eventually she gets Liz out of the way (thanks to her alcoholism) and seduces Jeff into beginning an affair with her. As Joanna's past starts to come to light thanks to a nosy neighbour, she gets backed into a corner which causes her severe dangerous side to come out.
The Babysitter is a fun little early 80's movie that is really about two different stories melded perfectly into one film. On the one hand, it is about a mysterious and dangerous girl who works hard to break up the Benedict family. On the other hand, the movie plays into the failing marriage between Liz and Jeff. It's kind of sad to watch them crumble even when Joanna doesn't try to ruin things for them. The ending is unfortunately kind of lackluster and doesn't provide that big pay off I was hoping for. We get an idea of how psychotic Joanna is and what she did to families before the Benedict's, but it only touched on that topic and never dived deep into it.
It is a bit of a slower paced made-for-TV thriller, but there is something about the story and the mystery of Joanna that keeps the viewer glued to the screen. Stephanie Zimbalist performance as Joanna is definitely mesmerizing and hypnotizing, not only to the family she's manipulating, but the audience as well. Patty Duke is a definite standout for me. She does a good job as the alcoholic mother who is desperate to keep her family together while she battles the bottle. William Shatner is his usual self, with a couple of over the top moments in his performance.
All in all The Babysitter was an enjoyable movie, especially for Made-for-TV fans like myself. It loses marks with how slow it runs (the middle frame is a bit dull), but the acting by Zimbalist and Duke along with a compelling mystery kept my attention the whole way.
6/10
The Benedict family just moved into a beautiful house on the water just outside of Seattle. Tara is a spoiled problem child for her parents Jeff and over protective/worrying mom Liz. One day while outside playing, Tara sees this beautiful 18 year old girl named Joanna. She's very mysterious and almost mesmerizing in the way she talks and walks around, and she grabs a hold of young Tara's impressionable innocence. After we see her cause Liz to get into a car accident, Liz decides to hire Joanna as her live in nanny for the summer responsible for cooking/cleaning and taking care of young Tara.
All is well at first. Tara and Joanna get along perfectly, Joanna cooks amazing food for the family, and she starts a deep friendship with Liz. The friendship seems caring at first, with Joanna helping Liz with her self confidence as a mother and wife, but quickly turns a bit dark as she starts pushing Liz to drink after a year of sobriety. Eventually she gets Liz out of the way (thanks to her alcoholism) and seduces Jeff into beginning an affair with her. As Joanna's past starts to come to light thanks to a nosy neighbour, she gets backed into a corner which causes her severe dangerous side to come out.
The Babysitter is a fun little early 80's movie that is really about two different stories melded perfectly into one film. On the one hand, it is about a mysterious and dangerous girl who works hard to break up the Benedict family. On the other hand, the movie plays into the failing marriage between Liz and Jeff. It's kind of sad to watch them crumble even when Joanna doesn't try to ruin things for them. The ending is unfortunately kind of lackluster and doesn't provide that big pay off I was hoping for. We get an idea of how psychotic Joanna is and what she did to families before the Benedict's, but it only touched on that topic and never dived deep into it.
It is a bit of a slower paced made-for-TV thriller, but there is something about the story and the mystery of Joanna that keeps the viewer glued to the screen. Stephanie Zimbalist performance as Joanna is definitely mesmerizing and hypnotizing, not only to the family she's manipulating, but the audience as well. Patty Duke is a definite standout for me. She does a good job as the alcoholic mother who is desperate to keep her family together while she battles the bottle. William Shatner is his usual self, with a couple of over the top moments in his performance.
All in all The Babysitter was an enjoyable movie, especially for Made-for-TV fans like myself. It loses marks with how slow it runs (the middle frame is a bit dull), but the acting by Zimbalist and Duke along with a compelling mystery kept my attention the whole way.
6/10
Curious TV-movie shrouded with non-existent mystery
moonspinner5527 February 2007
Good acting by a solid cast makes this somewhat-familiar material worth slogging through, even though the issues it raises seem to get all fouled up. Patty Duke Astin plays a doctor's wife who has hired a mysterious young woman to care for her rather hapless daughter, which causes friction in their already-shaky household. Quinn Cummings, fresh off her stint on TV's "Family", has a few surprisingly strong scenes standing up to babysitter Stephanie Zimbalist, but Zimbalist's role is a wash-out. Her character isn't given the grand, juicy build-up that villains usually receive in television suspensers, but perhaps this time it was a mistake (director Peter Medak is so overly-cautious letting the pieces fall into place that he becomes unintentionally coy about the whole thing). The film is shrouded in murk; Medak, going for a low-key mood, doesn't allow the drama to take shape, and as a result the story and characters become lethargic blobs.
She seemed innocent enough...
SusieSalmonLikeTheFish28 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I love these classic made-for-TV mysteries, and if you're like me, you'll love the Babysitter. 18-year-old Joanna Redwine has been in the foster care system nearly her entire life, and is one day hired by a troubled family to be the babysitter. The husband Jeff is a cheater, his wife Liz an alcoholic, and their 12 year old daughter Tara doesn't go to school, has very little social skills and acts very babyish for her age. Joanna seems like a great influence, and they also meet the next door neighbors, the kindly doctor and his grandson Scotty. Joanna however has killed her foster family at home and wrapped them in plastic, and will kill again if she doesn't get the perfect family she's been dreaming of... One thing very disappointing is that the eerie and beautiful soundtrack for this great movie was never separately released. All the actors/actresses were amazing, the film remained captivating 'till the end and to add even more creepiness to it, the girl Tara, although twelve years old, carries around her imaginary friend, a beaten up old rag-doll with its eyes ripped right out. That doll haunted me as a kid when I first saw this movie. It's really worth watching, you'll be happy you did!
One of the first lethal Lolita flicks
Wuchakk13 March 2022
A wealthy couple and their daughter (William Shatner, Patty Duke & Quinn Cummings) move to Bainbridge Island across from Seattle wherein they enlist the services of an 18 year-old who has befriended their daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist). Big mistake. John Houseman is on hand.
"The Babysitter" (1980) is a drama/mystery with a bit o' thriller/horror that influenced future movies like "Summer Girl" (1983), "Poison Ivy" (1992) and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992).
Patty Duke was 33 during shooting while Zimbalist was 23. Anyone who's enamored by the latter will like this flick more than me (I think she needed to eat some cheeseburgers). It's well done for a television production and has a sense of artistry (like "Poison Ivy," just less so), but there's also some tedious drama.
I appreciated the fact that at least one boating outing was shot in the rain, which is apropos for the region.
The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Burnaby and Deer Park, British Columbia, with some 2nd unit shots of Puget Sound around Bainbridge Island and Seattle.
GRADE: B-
"The Babysitter" (1980) is a drama/mystery with a bit o' thriller/horror that influenced future movies like "Summer Girl" (1983), "Poison Ivy" (1992) and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992).
Patty Duke was 33 during shooting while Zimbalist was 23. Anyone who's enamored by the latter will like this flick more than me (I think she needed to eat some cheeseburgers). It's well done for a television production and has a sense of artistry (like "Poison Ivy," just less so), but there's also some tedious drama.
I appreciated the fact that at least one boating outing was shot in the rain, which is apropos for the region.
The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Burnaby and Deer Park, British Columbia, with some 2nd unit shots of Puget Sound around Bainbridge Island and Seattle.
GRADE: B-
Horror, Suspense, or Just a Waste of Time.
Zorin-230 March 1999
I bought the TV movie "The Babysitter" because of the director Peter Medak, who directed the "The Changeling", which in my opinion is one of the best horror movies ever made. After I watched "The Babysitter" I said to myself "What a waste of time." It was boring, there isn't any suspense or scares. All it is about is a troubled couple hiring a housesitter, not a babysitter, to clean house and make meals. The only problem is that she has a dark and closely guarded past. The copy that I bought now just sits on the shelf collecting dust. Check out Peter Medak's other film "The Changeling", It's much better.
* *1/2 out of 4.
brandonsites198110 September 2002
Couple (Patty Duke and William Shatner) hires an orphaned teenage girl (Stephanie Zimbalist) with a dark and mysterious past as a nanny. At first she is perfect and keeps there house in top shape and makes life much easier for the couple, but as time goes on she becomes destructive and turns Duke and Shatner against one another and the house is becoming a total mess. She then starts to show her true colors and people start to drop like flies. Sometimes haunting and disturbing TV film is given lush direction and entertains untill it crumbles apart at the end. Zimbalist makes a good psycho, but Shatner is miscast.
Not Rated; Violence.
Not Rated; Violence.
Slow in delivery, with below average acting.
OllieSuave-0079 August 2018
This is a TV thriller where Liz Benedict (Patty Duke) hires 18 year-old Joanna Redwine (Stephanie Zimbalist) as her housekeeper and be a live-in companion to her daughter, Tara (Quinn Cummings). But, Joanna gradually manipulates everyone and attempts to break up the family.
The plot has some suspenseful moments, including the parts where a doctor tries to dig up dirt on Joanna's past, but much of the movie is mired by bad acting, slow pacing, and lack of attention grabbing scenes.
Patty Duke's character was extremely hopeless and annoying and William Shatner seemed disinterested in his role throughout the entire movie. Stephanie Zimbalist looks dazed throughout the story, while the most serviceable acting goes to Quinn Cummings.
There's really nothing thrilling about this TV flick. OK to pass on it.
Grade D
The plot has some suspenseful moments, including the parts where a doctor tries to dig up dirt on Joanna's past, but much of the movie is mired by bad acting, slow pacing, and lack of attention grabbing scenes.
Patty Duke's character was extremely hopeless and annoying and William Shatner seemed disinterested in his role throughout the entire movie. Stephanie Zimbalist looks dazed throughout the story, while the most serviceable acting goes to Quinn Cummings.
There's really nothing thrilling about this TV flick. OK to pass on it.
Grade D
Was Expecting Better
Rainey-Dawn23 January 2017
Two characters that got on my nerves severely was Joanna Redwine and Tara Benedict. I don't know which one I hated more -- and that started from the opening scene. That stupid look on Joanna's face almost the entire film and the just the way she was and Tara's crappy attitude just raked on my nerves. William Shatner and Patty Duke were good as usual - but both of their characters really went weird - especially Duke's role.
Tara is young but old enough to take care of herself around the house without the need for a babysitter. It's true the film should have been entitled The Housesitter because that's exactly what Joanna was doing - helping around the house while giving company to Liz and Tara.
Anyway if the two girls would have not irritated me so then I would have rated the film a bit higher but my nerves were grinding with the two so I will have to rate it a bit lower.
5/10
Tara is young but old enough to take care of herself around the house without the need for a babysitter. It's true the film should have been entitled The Housesitter because that's exactly what Joanna was doing - helping around the house while giving company to Liz and Tara.
Anyway if the two girls would have not irritated me so then I would have rated the film a bit higher but my nerves were grinding with the two so I will have to rate it a bit lower.
5/10
Is William Shatner the baby?
MovieAddict201628 August 2005
First things first: There's no baby in this movie, and it's not about a babysitter. So why did they call it "The Babysitter"? I don't know. Because of the drugs the cast and crew were taking, maybe? (I suspect acid, but maybe downers, just to ease the pain of knowing they were starring in such an awful movie.)
It's about a family torn apart by a ruthless housesitter with a secretive past. Yes, a HOUSEsitter. Not a BABYsitter. Unless a balding, wig-wearing Will "I Used to Be Famous, Look at Me Now" Shatner counts as a big blubbering baby. He certainly acts like one in this movie. So either it's a smart satire with a self-referential title... or the writer just forgot that it's not about any babies. Or babysitters. (I just can't stress this fact enough!)
The housesitter is a sexy 18-year-old seductress, a bit like Drew Barrymore in "Poison Ivy," only not quite as demented. She tries to seduce William Shatner, and he refuses her advances after she pokes fun at him a little bit. Aww, poor baby! (FYI, I wouldn't have cared if she called me scum of the earth!)
The Hungarian director Peter Medak has a resume filled with TV movies and television shows. After seeing this it's not surprising he hasn't been able to graduate to the big screen successfully yet.
The characters are lame and underdeveloped, the plot is all over the place; scenes lack cohesion and seem to jump back and forth with no real point. I.e. we'll be watching William Shatner talking to some guy and suddenly - whoa! We're in a house! And then we're back to William Shatner! And now we're staring at a cow in a green pasture! (Oh wait, it's just William Shatner.) Don't bother with this. It isn't worth the time.
It's about a family torn apart by a ruthless housesitter with a secretive past. Yes, a HOUSEsitter. Not a BABYsitter. Unless a balding, wig-wearing Will "I Used to Be Famous, Look at Me Now" Shatner counts as a big blubbering baby. He certainly acts like one in this movie. So either it's a smart satire with a self-referential title... or the writer just forgot that it's not about any babies. Or babysitters. (I just can't stress this fact enough!)
The housesitter is a sexy 18-year-old seductress, a bit like Drew Barrymore in "Poison Ivy," only not quite as demented. She tries to seduce William Shatner, and he refuses her advances after she pokes fun at him a little bit. Aww, poor baby! (FYI, I wouldn't have cared if she called me scum of the earth!)
The Hungarian director Peter Medak has a resume filled with TV movies and television shows. After seeing this it's not surprising he hasn't been able to graduate to the big screen successfully yet.
The characters are lame and underdeveloped, the plot is all over the place; scenes lack cohesion and seem to jump back and forth with no real point. I.e. we'll be watching William Shatner talking to some guy and suddenly - whoa! We're in a house! And then we're back to William Shatner! And now we're staring at a cow in a green pasture! (Oh wait, it's just William Shatner.) Don't bother with this. It isn't worth the time.
How this could ever happen? Step back, Step away from this disaster!
the_running_paper_tiger26 May 2002
People what's wrong with You?! How, in the nine hells, this movie got so high notes? Geez, this is complete no go. Don't waste neither Your money, nor Your time (as We all know 'time is money'). What I know for sure, is that They should hang'em all high - actors, actresses... o yeah and the script... and music.. There's nothing in this film that makes worth watching it. Yes, I know 'Romeo Is Bleeding' is a great movie, but 'the Babysitter' is Peter Medak's Waterloo. Last thing: There's as much suspense as in Beverly Hills 90210 or any similar crap.
Better than I expected
cin_kong11 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Having a familiar cast like this makes the performances seem more honest. You won't be disappointed by the acting.
I was not a big fan of thrillers genres, however I did want to see Stephanie Zimbalist's early work.
Even though you know she was up to no good, we the audience don't find out until the end, why Joanna manipulated people. The final scenes where she completely broke down was well acted and made it easy to feel sympathy for her character.
I was not a big fan of thrillers genres, however I did want to see Stephanie Zimbalist's early work.
Even though you know she was up to no good, we the audience don't find out until the end, why Joanna manipulated people. The final scenes where she completely broke down was well acted and made it easy to feel sympathy for her character.
Instantly forgettable
richardwworkman26 July 2021
"Help Him, Joanna! Help Him!"...
azathothpwiggins13 August 2018
In THE BABYSITTER, a family is undermined by the cunning manipulation of a beautiful, young woman named Joanna (Stephanie Zimbalist). After insinuating herself into the family, she begins seducing the husband (William Shatner) and emotionally sabotaging the wife (Patty Duke).
Knowing nothing of Joanna's extremely dark past, the family is unaware of just how dangerous she is, though the 12 year old daughter (Quinn Cummings) seems wiser than her clueless parents. Will they realize what Joanna is doing, before she causes irreparable damage, even death?
Duke is great, and Shatner is less Captain Kirk than usual. However, this is Zimbalist's movie, and she is the blackened sun at it's center. There's even a LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN moment on the lake! Mostly though, THE BABYSITTER prefigures the future POISON IVY, only in a more "family-friendly", made-for-TV form.
Co-stars John Houseman as a doggedly suspicious neighbor...
Knowing nothing of Joanna's extremely dark past, the family is unaware of just how dangerous she is, though the 12 year old daughter (Quinn Cummings) seems wiser than her clueless parents. Will they realize what Joanna is doing, before she causes irreparable damage, even death?
Duke is great, and Shatner is less Captain Kirk than usual. However, this is Zimbalist's movie, and she is the blackened sun at it's center. There's even a LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN moment on the lake! Mostly though, THE BABYSITTER prefigures the future POISON IVY, only in a more "family-friendly", made-for-TV form.
Co-stars John Houseman as a doggedly suspicious neighbor...
Best babysitter movie ever
ralphmoore-0376329 August 2020
Still my favorite movie of all times I have seen several babysitter movies but this 1 is by far the best 1 I first saw this in 1980 40 yrs later its still my favorite Stephanie Zimbalist does a superb job at playing a physco person i liked at the end of the movie where Tara gives Joanna the doll my favorite part of the film was when they were fishing on Docs boat and Joanna whacks the fish and the look on her face just a brilliant job of acting and yes 40 yrs later still my favorite movie I also like the opening line where Joanna says "POOR TARA"
Good or Garbage?
r_steele82876 July 2001
Well, I bought this movie for the fact that Stephanie Zimbalist (Laura Holt of Remington Steele) played a leading role in it. Everything I had seen of hers was pretty good so far, and I'm a Remington addict, so I figured this would be good as well. I was mistaken. It wasn't exactly garbage. If written differently, it could've been a really good movie. The category in which it's categorized is all wrong as well. This is definitely not a suspense or horror film. There was no blood or gore, which is what I describe a horror film as to be. As far as suspenseful goes, it almost meets that category, as I said, if written better. My opinion, the writing stunk. The storyline could've been extremely better. It's definitely not a movie you'd view more than once, IMO.
Too slow and tame to be effective
Wizard-815 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The central idea of "The Babysitter" - a young woman worming her way into taking care of a family who doesn't know that she is deeply disturbed - is one that had been done a number of times in movies before this one, as well as afterwards. The basic familiarity of the plot didn't bother me. What did bother me, however, was how weakly produced this version was. Since it was made for TV, the movie stays strictly at a PG level, and that turns out to be the movie's downfall. There's no bite to the movie, certainly no sexual material, and the very limited violence comes across in a manner that is extremely casual. What this movie really needed was a harder edge to succeed, but as it is, it's too soft, as well as being drawn out to ridiculous levels. The only interesting things the movie has is its sometimes interesting musical score, as well as some picturesque location shooting in Washington state.
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