The 280th review!
Hello! Welcome to October and the start of year 10 for Mr. Pat’s 31 Days of Halloween! It’s always difficult picking a movie for the start of the month because I want something good and something that will grab attention. But when I saw this movie had been released on Netflix, the answer was obvious. So I watched...
The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) - Netflix
Let me start off by saying I’m going to do my best to judge this movie on its own merits. I reviewed The Babysitter two years ago and it was the surprise of the year. The Babysitter was fun, ridiculous and an interesting film, taking the horror stereotypes and flipping them on their head, making them the bad guys. Plus, any scene involving the jock, Max was an absolute blast to watch.
This movie picks up two years after the events of the first. Cole is a junior in high school and is an outcast. For one, he wears a three-piece suit to school, and no one believes that the events of the first movie happened. It gets explained that all the bodies just disappeared so people, even his parents believe it was all in his head. Even his best friend, Melanie who was a part of the madness doesn’t do much to back up his story. He’s spent the past two years labeled as crazy and it’s when he decides to take a lake trip with Melanie that his past catches up with him.
Part of the fun of the first was once things start happening, it gets out of hand fast and keeps spiraling into insanity. This one the same thing happens but there’s a twist to it that really shocked me in the moment. Without giving anything away, it took me a few seconds to process what I just saw.
This isn’t a spoiler because it’s in the trailer and marketing materials, but the original baddies from the first one come back, and I’m happy to report Max once again steals the show. It’s such a fun dynamic between Cole and Max. Max, still shirtless, still trying to kill Cole, but it’s so funny because he genuinely likes and respects the kid. Even when Cole is attacking him Max is proud of him. There’s a scene where Max is swinging around an ax at our hero and his newly introduced friend Phoebe. They start ineffectively fighting much back to Max’ disappointment. Not because they’re hurting him, but because Max expects more from Cole. In the first movie, he takes a break from trying to murder him so Cole can confront a bully. When Cole eventually kicks him in the nuts, Max keels over in pain and calls out to him proudly, “Finally found my dick, Cole!” You can tell Robbie Amell is having a whole lot playing the character.
It’s hard to put into words just how funny their interactions are, you just have to see it for yourself. Max is such a great character. Granted, the sequel isn’t as good as the first, there’s an injoke about that too, but Max and Cole’s dynamic more than makes up for this movie’s shortcomings.
With that said, it’s by no means a perfect movie. Anytime there’s an adult on screen, I cringed. They’re all just flat-one dimensional characters, with the possible exception of the father played by Ken Marino. I mentioned earlier the movie moves really quick once we start getting to the action but then slows down to a crawl when we flash to an adult as a way of saying, “Hey, look at these cooky characters, let’s have them say something profane out of the blue to get shock laughs, cuh-razy!” Although, in the interest of fairness, it does have at least one instance where a character says something that is mildly funny and then gets a good laugh at the end.
Cole is a likeable protagonist as the scrappy underdog who is somehow incredible at causing other people’s deaths, something the scenery-chewing John humorously points out.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Cole is a likeable protagonist as the scrappy underdog who is somehow incredible at causing other people’s deaths, something the scenery-chewing John humorously points out. The original antagonists are a joy and it’s really nice seeing them all together again. Like I’ve mentioned multiple times, Max is the best part once again, and the movie handles him perfectly. The way he switches from murderer, to joking friend and back to murderer is so much fun and frightening. And to the movie’s credit you get just enough of his shenanigans to keep you wanting more, but not grow tired of his shtick.
Now to the ending. Trailers show you that Samara Weaving, as the homicidal Be,e comes back, so that’s not a spoiler either, but the movie manages to surprise me once again. It’s hard to call anything “heartwarming” in a movie that has so much over-the-top murder, but I think it fits here and manages to get one last laugh out Max. Another great part of the first one was the relationship between Bee and Cole, it was really sweet until she, ya know, tried killing him. I don’t want to give away too much because it was a very pleasant twist, and I really enjoyed how the movie ended.
To sum it up, it’s fun but flawed. The first one was unique but by 2020 it’s kind of lost the same impact it had. It’s still a very bloody, goofy and fun ride that I encourage you to check out.
7 Dr. Chainsaws!
The Babysitter: Killer Queen
2020TV-MA1h 42mDark Comedies
Two years after Cole survived a satanic blood cult, he's living another nightmare: high school. And the demons from his past? Still making his life hell.