''The Guardian'' is a 1990 American
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
co-written and directed by
William Friedkin
William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in t ...
, and starring
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...
as a mysterious nanny who is hired by new parents, played by
Dwier Brown
Dwier Brown (born January 30, 1959) is an American actor. In the 1989 film ''Field of Dreams'' he played John Kinsella, the father of Kevin Costner's character (in reality, he is four years younger than Costner), and he played Henry Mitchell in ...
and
Carey Lowell, to care for their infant son; the couple soon discover the nanny to be a
Hamadryad
A hamadryad (; grc, αμαδρυάδα, hamadryáda) is a Greek mythological being that lives in trees. It is a particular type of dryad which, in turn, is a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a certain tree. Some maintain t ...
, whose previous clients' children went missing under her care. The film is based on the novel ''The Nanny'', by
Dan Greenburg
Dan Greenburg (born June 19, 1936) is an American writer, humorist, and journalist. His 73 books have been published in 20 languages in 24 countries.
His best-selling books for adults include the non-fiction books '' How to Be a Jewish Mother: ...
.
Director
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
was originally attached to the project, before dropping out to direct ''
Darkman
''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is br ...
''. Heavily marketed as director Friedkin's first foray into the horror genre since 1973's ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...
'', the film had a troubled production, with the script undergoing changes that continued well into the shooting process.
The film was released in the spring of 1990, and had a generally unfavorable critical reception, later making
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
's "most hated films" list. A
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
version of the film was credited to
"Alan Von Smithee", due to Friedkin's wish to disassociate himself from its release. Although a critical and commercial failure, the film later found an audience as a
cult film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
.
Plot
Molly and Allan Sheridan leave their two children in the care of a new
nanny
A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
, Diana Julian. Diana, who is in fact an ancient
Hamadryad
A hamadryad (; grc, αμαδρυάδα, hamadryáda) is a Greek mythological being that lives in trees. It is a particular type of dryad which, in turn, is a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a certain tree. Some maintain t ...
, kidnaps their infant daughter, taking her to a forest where she approaches a giant, gnarled tree, serving the child as a
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
to sustain the tree's life. Diana's reflection as she stares into a pool of water transforms to that of a growling wolf.
Three months later, Phil and Kate Sterling have recently relocated from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where Phil has taken a lucrative advertising job. Kate becomes pregnant, and gives birth to a son, Jake. The couple decide to hire a nanny to allow each of them to maintain their jobs, and interview two clients through a nanny agency: a young woman named Arlene, and a caring
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
woman, Camilla. When Arlene dies in a bicycling accident, Camilla is swiftly hired and becomes an invaluable member of the Sterlings' household.
One afternoon while Camilla rests in a meadow with Jake, she is approached by three aggressive
bikers who attempt to sexually assault her. She flees to the base of the gnarled tree, which subsequently comes to life, its branches strangling and eviscerating the men. Wolves consume one of their entrails, and another is impaled by the tree's root and then bursts into flame. During a dinner party some days later, Ned, the Sterlings' neighbor who designed their home, invites Camilla on a date, which she declines. That night, Phil has a nightmare in which he has sex with Camilla. The next day, moments after Camilla leaves to go shopping, Ned stops by the house with a bouquet of flowers for her. Kate explains she just left on foot, and Ned drives after her, catching sight of her fleeing into the forest. Ned pursues her, eventually coming across her bathing in the creek. He watches as Camilla approaches the large tree, and begins to fuse with the tree bark. A pack of wolves pursue Ned, who flees back to his house. He leaves a rambling phone message for Phil and Kate. Moments later, Camilla appears, naked and ashen, on the hearth, before the wolves break into the home, eating him alive. Camilla drags his remains away.
When checking the answering machine the following morning, Phil finds two messages: One from a stranger, Molly Sheridan, who says it is urgent she speak with him. The next is Ned's, which is incoherent, but Camilla interrupts him from finishing listening to it. Phil meets with Molly the next day. She describes the disappearance of her infant daughter, as well as the nanny Diana, whom she came to discover was a false identity. She requests that Phil arrange for her to see Camilla, suspecting they are the same person. When Phil returns home, he listens to Ned's message in full, which warns him against letting Camilla back in the house. Discovering Ned is missing, Phil confronts Camilla in front of Kate, but Jake grows violently ill during the confrontation and has to be rushed to the hospital, exhibiting
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
-like symptoms.
Jake regains consciousness in the hospital, and Camilla attempts to kidnap him, but Phil intercepts, throwing Camilla to the ground. Phil and Kate depart with Jake, and upon arriving home are confronted by a pack of wolves. Kate flees to the couple's
Jeep
Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...
, while Phil runs toward the woods with Jake, as Camilla pursues them both,
levitating through the forest, until they reach the large tree. Kate chases after them in the Jeep, eventually hitting and killing Camilla. As Phil examines Camilla's body, he notices faces of babies embossed in the tree bark.
Later, a detective tells the couple no evidence of Camilla's existence can be found. Phil decides to cut down the tree with a chainsaw, but in his absence, Kate is attacked by Camilla—now part-tree, part-human—who has again infiltrated the house. As Phil attempts to cut the tree, the branches entangle him and begin to bleed as he inflicts damage on them. The damage concurrently impacts Camilla, who is fighting Kate. When Phil saws off a large branch, Camilla's leg severs from her body, allowing Kate to push her out a window. Simultaneously, Phil manages to fell the tree, but it combusts before landing, as Camilla's body similarly disintegrates before hitting the ground. A bloodied Phil drops the chainsaw and returns home as Kate picks up Jake. Seeing the mess in the house, Phil realizes what happened as he is reunited with his wife and son now knowing with Camilla finally died, his family is now safe.
Cast
Production
Filming
''The Guardian'' was shot on location in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...
.
The forest location featured in the film was shot at a nature preserve in
Valencia, California
Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California. This area, with major commercial and industrial parks, straddles State Route 126 and the Santa Clara River.
Development projects continue to be built in ...
, near
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...
.
Script changes
The original script for ''The Guardian'' bore a closer resemblance to its source material, ''The Nanny'' by novelist Dan Greenburg, which told the story of a nanny who steals children. According to screenwriter
Stephen Volk
Stephen Volk (born 3 July 1954) is a Welsh screenwriter and novelist who specializes in the horror genre. , Sam Raimi was originally attached to the picture.
Raimi had dropped out of the production to direct ''Darkman'', at which point William Friedkin was brought in to direct. The script, which had originally been conceived as a
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
thriller for Raimi, eventually "metamorphosed into something different" during the course of filming, as Friedkin made numerous changes.
Volk attempted to rework the script for Friedkin, initially re-writing the character of the nanny as a real-life
Lilith
Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...
, the child-stealing demon from Jewish mythology.
Friedkin dismissed the idea, and Volk then reworked the script into a straightforward psychological thriller about an unhinged woman stealing children; however, Universal Pictures objected to the reworking, stating that they wanted a "supernatural" horror film given Friedkin's reputation for ''The Exorcist'' (1973).
Amidst the shifting script, Friedkin began auditioning for the role of Camilla.
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
was originally a candidate for the role prior to the script changes.
After Volk suggested using elements from the
M.R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
story "
The Ash-tree
"The Ash-tree" is a ghost story by British writer M.R. James, included in his 1904 collection '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''.
Plot summary
In 1690, the English county of Suffolk is wracked with a fear of witches. Many girls and women are a ...
" in the script, Friedkin became fixated on incorporating a tree into Camilla's backstory. Volk reportedly suffered a
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
and left the production, leaving Friedkin to finish the script's loose ends after filming had already begun.
In a 2015 interview, Jenny Seagrove recalled visiting Friedkin at his home in Los Angeles, where he told her he had been reading about
Druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
mythology and wanted to incorporate it into the film.
According to Seagrove: "Pages were flying at us
..and then suddenly this idea of this weird kind of tree came about, and suddenly my character was not just a nanny but she was a Druid character who turned into a part of the tree, and she had to feed the tree—things were evolving all the time."
Special effects
Seagrove underwent numerous extensive
makeup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
transformations in the film, at times covered in
tree bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and cons ...
during the metamorphosing scenes.
The tree featured in the film was constructed by the special effects department in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
, and transported to the nature preserve in Valencia. The tree contained tubes of circulating
fake blood
Theatrical blood, stage blood or fake blood is anything used as a substitute for blood in a theatrical or cinematic performance. For example, in the special effects industry, when a director needs to simulate an actor being shot or cut, a wide v ...
in order for the tree to properly "bleed" when cut.
Alternate endings
The television version of the film ends with Phil and Kate returning home from the hospital with Jake, while Camilla is alive and naked at the tree. Director William Friedkin disapproved of the television cut of the film, and removed his name from the credits, naming "
Alan von Smithee" as the director.
The video and DVD versions have the full ending, in which Camilla appears in her true form and tries to take the baby from Kate, but Phil cuts down the tree with a chainsaw, thus killing both it and Camilla.
Release
''The Guardian'' was released in North American cinemas on April 27, 1990, opening at #3 at the box office, on 1,684 screens,
with a
USD$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5,565,620 weekend. The film went on to gross a total of $17,037,887 domestically.
Critical response
''The Guardian'' earned mostly negative reviews from critics, and holds a 27% rating on review aggregator
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 ...
from 11 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film one star out of four, and later named it as one of his "Most Hated Films".
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave the film a middling review, saying "
riedkinnever sustains the story's tension for very long, and even cuts off the scarier episodes before they have a chance to sink in. What's more, he never offers a consistent idea of what sort of evil is at work here."
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' also gave the film a negative review, stating: "the plot is so preposterous that ''The Guardian'' never comes close to grabbing attention, empathy or sympathy." David Kehr of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' wrote: "Like ''The Exorcist'', ''The Guardian'' is a horror story set in the bosom of the nuclear family, and it, too, tries to exploit a culturewide fear, turning a shared guilt into monstrous projection. The guilt of ''The Guardian'', however, is far more mundane and far less gripping than ''The Exorcist''s agony over our abandonment of the church." Jay Carr of ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' wrote that the film was "pretty good claptrap," but noted that "as it makes its way to a bloody payoff, it loses immediacy and individuality, subsiding into bloody cliche."
''
Time Out'' said in their review of the film: "Friedkin opts for up-front hokum, interspersed with impressively ridiculous special effects, including man-eating trees, flying nannies and coniferous chainsaw carnage. A severely flawed but not unamusing venture from a director who should know better."
Actress Jenny Seagrove said of the film in retrospect, "I don't want to put off anyone from watching it because it is good fun," but noted that, during the first screening, "there was a feeling in the room that it wasn't the sort of picture everyone had hoped it was going to be."
She also said: "It has become a cult film, but the screenplay was appalling. It was being written on the hoof."
To the question "Which films were the farthest?" on his career, William Friedkin cited ''The Guardian'' and simply said about it: "''The Guardian'' I don’t think works."
Home media
''The Guardian'' was released on VHS by
MCA Universal
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
home video in October 1990. It was later licensed by Universal for a DVD release through
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television ser ...
, released it on October 12, 1999.
The DVD features an
audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
by director Friedkin, as well as the original theatrical trailer. This release has been long
out of print
__NOTOC__
An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...
and is difficult to obtain, although a UK DVD by Second Sight, also featuring Friedkin's commentary, has subsequently become widely available.
The film was released on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
for the first time by Shout Factory on January 19, 2016. A UK Blu-ray by Final Cut Entertainment is due for release in October, 2018.
See also
*
Druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
References
Works cited
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guardian, The
1990 films
1990 horror films
1990 thriller films
American horror thriller films
American supernatural horror films
1990s English-language films
Films about trees
Films based on American horror novels
Films based on classical mythology
Films directed by William Friedkin
Films credited to Alan Smithee
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films about nannies
Universal Pictures films
1990s American films