A Babysitter's Giude to Monster Hunting

Movie, 2020, TV-PG

 

Premise - On Halloween night, a teenage girl is forced to babysit instead of going out to a party. The night ends up being more adventurous than she bargained for when the child, Jacob, gets abducted by monsters who are trying to extract his nightmares and unleash them on the world. Lucky for her, a secret organization of monster-hunting babysitters already exists, and are quick to involve her in their mission to retrieve Jacob.

Review - I know this happens alllll the time, but this is just yet another subpar movie I watched for a Harry Potter cast member, in this case being Tom Felton who plays the nightmarish villain. I'll admit, that was fun seeing him in all that getup! The special effects were decent too, with his long, creepy, crawly fingers. I had wished that perhaps there was a more genuine attempt at making him into a truly frightening beast.

 

But, no, this was very much a children's movie. It was reminiscent in tone of Disney Channel Original Movies from my childhood, except the actors seemed even younger (or maybe I'm just older now and realize how childish these teenagers are). It's appropriate audience was middle childhood, as some scenes would probably be a bit too creepier for the youngest of kiddos.

The childish nature of it does not translate all too well to an adult audience. The lines are cheesy and forced, not to mention the whole concept of the film is very cheesy and forced. If you think about it for more than a split second - it makes no sense. Generations and generations of secret, monster-hunting babysitters going back to Cleopatra, and that information never reaches the hands of parents? Don't most babysitters grow up to be parents themselves one day? Why is it always children who are forced to fight the monsters? And if these monsters are so pervasive, why does it have to be a secret organization? What good does that do anyone? And why is Liz so angry with Kelly for not knowing how to "correctly" babysit if the organization is secret, and she doesn't want Kelly to know about them? You can't have it both ways. The whole premise is illogical, and I could go on about all the little details that don't add up either.

The point of many of these kids movies is you're not expected to think too hard, because the audience doesn't even have the capacity to think that hard. They're kids. And on a surface level, I can see how it is fun and entertaining. They also did a good job of breaking the scary villain with some comedic relief, as even though he LOOKS really scary, he can't get the kid Jacob to fall asleep no matter what he tries, so he can't really be all that powerful. I'd probably have enjoyed it if I were younger. (36/100)

Quote - I don't remember any quotes, but whatever spell Tom Felton puts on you to make him do what he says... like alright, I'll do as you say!

What to watch for - TOM FELTON and he even has a musical number of sorts where he sings a lullaby. Not super grand, but still, he must have been excited to put his singing chops to use.

If you liked this film, I'd recommend Halloweentown?? I'm trying to think of other Halloween or monster movies that kind of have the Disney Channel Original Movie vibe a bit. It also oddly reminded me of Agent Cody Banks with Hillary Duff, since there are teenagers in a very adult type of profession, though I can't say I remember a single thing that happens in that movie.

Based on the book by Joe Ballarini

Directed by Rachel Talalay

Distributed by Netflix