The Babysitter: Killer Queen
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Blood, gore, crass humor in horrible horror movie.
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The Babysitter: Killer Queen
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Based on 10 parent reviews
BEST MOVIE EVER
What's the Story?
In THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN, Cole (Judah Lewis) is starting high school. It has been two years since he survived and defeated a satanic blood cult led by his babysitter Bee, and since that time, he has been scorned, ridiculed, and bullied for maintaining the veracity of the ordeal. His parents believe he has mental health issues, and his therapist thinks he just needs to lose his virginity. Melanie (Emily Alyn Lind), Cole's best friend and unrequited crush, is the only one who believes his story. On the same day that Cole discovers that he's going to be taken to a high school for students with psychiatric disorders, Melanie encourages Cole to skip school and go with her to a gigantic party on a nearby lake. That night, while partying on a houseboat, Cole finds that the evil forces he thought he had defeated have returned, and there are some new faces as well. With the help of a mysterious new girl in school named Phoebe, Cole must find a way to survive the night, and not be part of a blood ritual that resurrects his demonic enemies.
Is It Any Good?
The only remotely funny aspect of this movie is, paradoxically, one of its most subtle. The Babysitter: Killer Queen is set in Illinois, a land not known for having mountains, mesas, and deserts, but they're here in this movie just the same. It's a nice dig at the great and not-so-great horror movies that are supposed to be set in the flat-land Midwest despite looking an awful lot like California, and even when they go so far as to name the town "Haddonfield" (the same town stalked by one Michael Myers), it's still moderately amusing. That said, the rest of the movie is obnoxious, crass, idiotic, and, ultimately, a tedious exercise in failed humor.
Besides "Haddonfield," there are references to other movies splattered throughout, and these jokes compete with sex jokes, stoner jokes, cartoonish violence, and painful moments of self-aware B movie acting and dialogue. None of it works. Some scenes feel like sitting through bad sketch comedy, and other scenes feel like sitting through bad improv comedy. While no one expects this to be an arthouse film masterpiece, one would hope that the bloody bombast and crass jokes would provide at least a fraction of the entertainment of the movies they reference or parody. Instead, it's like watching an endless succession of humor attempts that fail to land.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about horror movies. How does The Babysitter: Killer Queen compare to other horror movies you've seen?
How is this movie an example of a "comedy-horror" movie? How does the movie use exaggerated violence and parody to attempt a comedic take on the horror genre?
How was profanity used in the movie? Did it heighten the jokes and dialogue in the movie, or did it seem excessive and gratuitous?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: September 10, 2020
- Cast: Judah Lewis , Emily Alyn Lind , Bella Thorne
- Director: McG
- Inclusion Information: Female actors, Pansexual actors, Latino actors
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: High School , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 101 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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