The Guardian (1990)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers (WGA):

Dan Greenburg (novel)
Stephen Volk (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Tonight, while the world is asleep... an ancient evil is about to awaken.

Plot:

Alan and Molly Sheridan have a baby boy named Jake. They hire a baby-sitter, Camilla, to look after Jake and she becomes part of the family...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Nanny | Babysitter | Animate Tree | Coyote

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Jenny Seagrove	...	Camilla
Dwier Brown	...	Phil
Carey Lowell	...	Kate
Brad Hall	...	Ned Runcie
Miguel Ferrer	...	Ralph Hess
Natalia Nogulich	...	Molly Sheridan
Pamela Brull	...	Gail Krasno
Gary Swanson	...	Allan Sheridan
Jack David Walker	...	Punk
Willy Parsons	...	Punk
Frank Noon	...	Punk
Theresa Randle	...	Arlene Russell
Xander Berkeley	...	Detective
Ray Reinhardt	...	Dr. Klein
Jacob Gelman	...	Scotty

Runtime:

92 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1990) (theatrical release) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1991) (video release) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Valencia, California, USA

Company:

Nanny Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Boogeymen: The Killer Compilation (2001) (V)

A treehugger's variation of Hansel & Gretel. (spoilers)

Not a bad horror film. During the age of the druids, there were supposedly people who worshipped trees, even going so far as to make human offerings to them. There were, however, those that worshipped the trees in order to raise some sort of good spirit while others did it to praise its evil spirit. An English woman posing as a babysitter is one of the latter. She takes a job as a sitter for an oblivious newlywed couple who have yet to suspect other plans for their newborn son. That is, as the cliché usually goes, until someone learns the woman secrets (usually as witnesses to her bizarre behavior) and tries to warn the naive couple. But not without the retaliation of the English woman, her pack of coyotes, and the spirit of the trees. But, as most horror movies also go, it is not long before the couple will have to do their best to save their son and get rid of the evil that has befallen their unsuspecting family. This is, as the filmmakers allude to in the introduction, a modern variation of Hansel and Gretel.

Typical material follows horror film conventions completely by the book, but it's rather unique setting (a dangerous tree hugger) and ignorance of the blah couple for most of the film, make it a decent horror film. Horror fluff, but entertaining nonetheless. Don't be fooled, however, by director William Friedken's name attached to the publicity as this lacks much of the exciting suspense and power of his early masterpiece, The Exorcist. If nothing else, if your in the mood for a horror film with sophisticated sprinkling of gratuitous nudity and a cheesy story, you might not be disappointed.