A young boy gets curious about what his babysitter gets up to after he is put to bed. He spies on her and her friends playing an exceptionally mischievous game of truth or dare. The boy gets caught snooping and is brought downstairs to face the wrath of the evil sitter. Should have stayed upstairs, you little brat.

The Babysitter is a newish Netflix horror-comedy film directed by the enigma McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation), who as a sidenote, has an interesting Wikipedia page. From the trailer one might question how funny this movie will actually be. Will it be laugh-out-loud hilarity or more on the stale and lame side of the coin? Well, the movie isn’t the greatest horr-com (if romance can do it so can we!) of all time, but it got a few chuckles out of me. It is clear from the start that The Babysitter is rooted in reality by only a single rapidly splitting thread.

It wouldn’t be a horror flick without some fresh kills and gore. The Babysitter isn’t the grossest genre film of all time but it holds its own when the blood is shed. You can tell the practical effects guys had some fun with this one. The movie’s tone is cartoony and allows for some grisly deaths. I think it might have benefited from more of a restrained approach and a tighter resolution, but it was a pleasantly satisfying film that I may or may not end up watching again at some point.

4 “Tuck me in and read me a bedtime story, my super attractive evil babysitter”s out of 5

★★★★☆