Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

Five kids are left home when their mother leaves town on a three-month vacation to Australia, only to have their geriatric babysitter die of a heart attack, leading to the eldest teen, Sue Ellen, to scam her way into taking a job at a hip Los Angeles fashion company to feed and support her needy siblings.

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers:

Neil Landau, Tara Ison

Stars:

Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, John Getz

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christina Applegate	...	Sue Ellen Crandell
Joanna Cassidy	...	Rose Lindsey
John Getz	...	Gus
Josh Charles	...	Bryan
Keith Coogan	...	Kenny Crandell
Concetta Tomei	...	Mom
David Duchovny	...	Bruce
Kimmy Robertson	...	Cathy
Jayne Brook	...	Carolyn
Eda Reiss Merin	...	Mrs. Sturak
Robert Hy Gorman	...	Walter Crandell
Danielle Harris	...	Melissa Crandell
Christopher Pettiet	...	Zach Crandell
Chris Claridge	...	Lizard
Jeff Bollow	...	Mole

Storyline

Single mother goes away for the summer. The kids are first delighted but then find that Mom has hired the sitter from hell to stay with them. When the sitter dies of a sudden coronary they deposit the body at a mortuary only to discover all their summer expense money was in her purse. The kids must find a way to survive the summer without mom or her money. This means actual work!

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Plot Keywords:

babysitter | job | fashion | fast food restaurant | deception | 

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Taglines:

No rules. No curfews. No baths. No nagging. No pulse.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Real World

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Gross:

$25,196,249 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Plus, Douglas, Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Production was nearly halted towards the end of shooting due to Christopher Pettiet's drug addiction, which was just starting to get out of control. The producers wound up cutting a few of his scenes to keep the film on schedule.

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Goofs

When Sue Ellen shoots Gus with the water gun, the squirt on his pants changes size between the close up and the long shot.

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Quotes

Zach Crandell: Cynthia, you're my moon goddess.

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Crazy Credits

The two groundskeepers for the cemetery stand over the Babysitters grave and comment how nice it was for her to leave them the money. The tombstone reads "Nice Old Lady inside who died of natural causes".

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Connections

References MacGyver (1985)

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Soundtracks

"What She Don't Know"
Performed by Flame
Produced by Bill Wray
Written by Bill Wray
Published by Virgin Music, Inc./Bill Wray Music

User Reviews

A fun and vibrant film.

I remember watching this film when I was growing up, I loved it then and I still love it.

Despite the fact it's obviously predictable, it's a fun film that's well acted and directed and has a great soundtrack.

Christina Applegate is quite impressive as Sue-Ellen, as is the rest of the cast.

Most of the characters are quite black and white with the obvious "baddies" getting their comeuppance towards the end of the film. Predictable films howeverm, aren't always bad. Especially if they are well acted and the characters are interesting. The only character that was meant to be nice that I found utterly annoying, was Josh Charles as Sue-Ellen's sugary sweet suitor, Bryan. His acting was great don't get me wrong, but I think it's safe to say Bryan wouldn't be MY type!

If anything else, this fun film is easy to watch and will remind most people in their mid 20's of their adolescents.