''The Babysitter'' is a 1995 American

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

film directed by

Guy Ferland Guy Ferland (born February 18, 1966) is an American film and television director. Career After Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film ''Notorious'' inspired him to become a filmmaker, Ferland went on to study cinema production at the University of Southe ...

and starring Alicia Silverstone, based on the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

of the same name by

Robert Coover Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American novelist, short story writer, and T.B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction. Background ...

in his collection ''Pricksongs and Descants'' (1969). The film was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

in October 1995.

Plot

Jennifer is a beautiful teenager who is hired to babysit the children of Harry Tucker and his wife, Dolly Tucker, while they attend a party hosted by their friends, Bill Holsten and his wife, Bernice Holsten. Harry often fantasizes about Jennifer, while Dolly misinterprets Bill's compliments as a sign of attraction and fantasizes about him. Meanwhile, Jennifer's ex-boyfriend Jack, with whom she broke up when he started pressuring Jennifer for sex, runs into his estranged troublemaking friend Mark, Bill and Bernice's son, who once had a fling with Jennifer and still harbors feelings for her. Throughout the night, Harry, Jack and Mark have increasingly racy fantasies about Jennifer. Jack calls Jennifer and asks to visit her at the Tuckers' residence, but she refuses. Mark later steals beer from Bill's party, where they run into Harry, who becomes fixated on the notion Jack might go to his house to have sex with Jennifer. Jack and Mark get increasingly drunk and show up uninvited to see Jennifer, but she refuses to let them in. They then spend the rest of the night stalking around the house and spying on her through the window. Meanwhile, Harry gets drunk and falls asleep in his car, where he has a nightmare of Jennifer and Jack having sex, which drives him to rush home and confront them. In his absence, Dolly makes a pass at Bill, who rejects her, but agrees to keep her secret and offers to drive her home. At the Tuckers' residence, Jack and Mark force their way in while Jennifer is taking a bath and, after a tense argument, Mark knocks Jack unconscious and attempts to rape Jennifer, who runs out of the house. Mark pursues her and ends up being fatally run over by Harry, who is arrested for drunk driving just as Bill and Dolly arrive and hear about the accident. Before being escorted home, Jennifer confronts Jack, who is being questioned by the police, and asks him, "What were you thinking?" before leaving an ashamed and guilt-stricken Jack behind.

Cast

* Alicia Silverstone as Jennifer *

Jeremy London Jeremy Michael London (born November 7, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his regular roles on '' Party of Five'', '' 7th Heaven'', and ''I'll Fly Away'', a starring role in the 1995 comedy film '' Mallrats'', as well as a notable ...

as Jack *

Nicky Katt Nicky Katt (born May 11, 1971) is an American actor. Katt often plays unsympathetic characters, such as an irascible motorhead in ''Dazed and Confused,'' an ill-fated white supremacist child rapist in ''A Time to Kill'', and an embittered bu ...

as Mark Holsten * J. T. Walsh as Harry Tucker *

Lee Garlington Ann Leslie "Lee" Garlington (born July 20, 1953) is an American actress. Early life Garlington was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. She spent her teenage years in Wilmington, Delaware. Career She has guest starred in a number of notable television s ...

as Dolly Tucker *

Lois Chiles Lois Cleveland Chiles (born April 15, 1947)Profile
entertainment.msn.com; accessed April 9, 2016. ...

as Bernice Holsten * George Segal as Bill Holsten * Ryan Slater as Jimmy Tucker * Brittany English Stephens as Bitsy *

Tuesday Knight Tuesday Lynn Knight (born Monday, February 17, 1969) is an American actress, singer and designer. She is best known for her role as Kristen Parker in the 1988 film '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', replacing Patricia Arquette i ...

as Waitress

Reception

''The Babysitter'' received negative reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

it has an approval rating of 17% based on reviews from 6 critics.

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

gave the film two stars.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babysitter, The 1995 films 1995 direct-to-video films 1995 directorial debut films 1995 independent films 1995 thriller films 1990s erotic thriller films 1990s teen drama films American erotic thriller films American independent films American teen drama films Fiction about child care occupations Direct-to-video erotic thriller films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Guy Ferland Films scored by Loek Dikker Spelling Films films Teen thriller films 1990s American films