One of the most screwed up but awesomelly funny horror movies I have seen in some time! What a wild ride! I had been contemplating this movie since I saw it on the shelves for sale and a few days ago I went and brought it. Do I regret it? Do I wish I had used my money for another avenue? Hell no!
The story starts with naive Angie, a devout catholic girl, who is attempting to make a life for herself. Enrolling at a college quite a way from her mother’s she finds her room is shared by the cliched character of her roommate who drinks and smokes herself into oblivion, in an attempt to make some cash she takes an advertisement for a babysitter on the bulletin board outside the college. After being offered the position she meets the family. A mother and father who seem too good to be true and an adorable little boy.
Cue the night she babysits. Everything begins well and then the phonecalls start and from there it gets even scarier; intense.
Given that this was a low-budget film it works everything well. The tension throughout the beginning when she is babysitting is palatable, the gore factor whilst never OTT is done brilliantly given the money spent on the film.
What initially pulled me into the movie was the character of Angie (played by Sarah Thompson): a devout catholic when she moves away from home suddenly the safe surroundings are gone and she is vulnerable as anyone would be in her situation. But my heart went to her. Trying to make an honest wage and being as true to herself as possible she made me fall in love with her in a very short amount of time.
Hence Rick (Matt Dallas), the almost too good to be true guy who treats her kindly and grows closer to her throughout the film. While I am not one for romantic sub-plots I adored how well it was handled and not made to be cheesy yet in keeping of the movie. It served a real purpose.
Father, Jim Stanton (wonderful performance by Bruce Thomas) and mother, Violet Stanton (Kristen Dalton) of the son Angie is to babysit are wonderful in their roles. Squeaky clean and kind something doesn’t ring true about them from the get go but you allay those feelings until the truth emerges.
Bill Moseley as Sheriff Dinelli was great and you garner a certain amount of affection for the character he portrays. And lastly Kai Caster as little lad, Sam Stanton. Wow is all I can say, really! For such a young age he has a considerable amount of talent and he played the role so adeptly, he was brilliant in every scene he appeared.
Lighting as par usual is done to great effect and given the lesser budget they managed to eke it to greater effect. I loved! loved! the music, tense and in your face it raised the hairs on the back of my neck in the creepy, darker scenes.
The one other thing about this movie that struck me was how it changed from a straight forward slasher movie into something else entirely and for once I did not see this twist coming which is where the strength of the movie lies. It’s bloody strange but oh so fun in the process!
It’s been a long time since I have seen a movie that disgusts me, surprises me and thrills me in equal measure but this did!
Dark, funny, strange as hell this movie has to be seen to be believed.
Fantastically arranged, this is a treat in any horror fan’s collection. In simply term, BLOODY, BLOODY awesome!! Watch it!