User Reviews

I first saw this in 2008 on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

The only good thing is the twist.

The movie is very boring and when the action takes place, most of the climatic scenes are shot in too much darkness that one cannot make out wots going on.

There is an uncalled n unnecessary gory scene.

The movie has the same ol trope where aft hitting the killer unconscious or when the killer is down, the victim rather than hitting or bashing more, tries to run away.

How many times will they show another trope where the last girl is trying to pass the unconscious body of the killer n suddenly the killer gets up n holds the leg of the girl.

Sarah Thompson the lead actress looks like a younger version of Vera Farmiga.

We have Bill Moseley as a cop in a tiny role.

The movie started off like When a Stranger Calls n then concluded like a lousy version of Omen.

"Babysitter Wanted" was a nice surprise. I thought 'why not?'when I saw the DVD cover. I was expecting a 'D'- rated flick & got a good twist on the babysitter theme of the 70's/80's.

A first year college student, in need of money, answers a posting for a babysitter out at a farm. All the events, up to her arrival at the farm seemingly follow the 'babysitter theme' viewers are so familiar with. Once she is left alone to do her job, that's when the theme takes a turn. It wasn't what I had expected.

The actress playing college student Angie, lacked credibility, but I overlooked it, as this was schlock. I was creeped out by the child actor. The actor playing the father was a refreshing treat. It's not perfect, but worth a look, for horror's sake.

"Try to be a nice guy and that's the thanks I get!"

Babysitter Wanted is quite similar to the movie House of the Devil in many ways (though it preceded it by about a year). Both movies have a similar premise (young woman at a small college taking a rural babysitting-type job at a spooky locale because she's desperate for money), both try to scare you by slowly building tension (at least, initially) in a large, quiet house, and both have similar sources of evil as the heart of the threat to our unsuspecting heroines. 

The main difference between the two movies, though (besides a gruesome twist or two), is that House of the Devil is just better. It's more frightening, more interesting, and more memorable. That's not to say that Babysitter Wanted is bad or not worth watching. It's a sinister movie that's shot well, and I didn't find much reason to complain about the actors (though there is a faintly ridiculous monologue almost an hour into the proceedings that would have been better left out). The story is simple and violence and gore are certainly present (though it happens off-screen as often as on). The last 45 minutes or so are quite different from what comes before, so be prepared for a shift in tone. 

The final act is where the two movies really separate themselves, and that's really where I think House of the Devil completely outshines this. 

Maybe I would have appreciated Babysitter Wanted more if I hadn't seen a superior,similar movie that I couldn't help comparing it to. Give it a try if you'd like; there are far, far worse horror movies available.

Babysitter Wanted starts off like pretty much every other babysitter in peril film you've probably already seen: a pretty, virginal high-school student takes a child-minding job in a remote house in the boondocks, where she experiences creepy noises, power outages, and mysterious phone-calls, before eventually being attacked by person or persons unknown. In short, it's about as formulaic as a horror film can get.

If you begin to bemoan this film's predictability, though, you're playing right into the hands of its makers, whose seemingly uninspired set-up exists only to catch the viewer off guard with one hell of a curve-ball halfway through: just as the film couldn't get any more predictable, writer/director Jonas Barnes pulls the metaphorical rug from under his viewers feet with an audacious plot development that has to be seen to be believed.

With his illusion of banality well and truly shattered, Barnes is finally free to explore new territory, but despite the introduction of some welcome black humour, a few well conceived moments of tension and a spot of surprisingly gruesome gore, the film never fully capitalises on its rather bonkers mid-point revelation. If only the madness had escalated exponentially from that point on rather than just kicking up a gear and staying there, I'm sure we'd have had another bona fide horror classic on our hands—after all, nothing succeeds like excess!

Let me start by saying that I was expecting so much more.

The first part was more like psychological thriller - the rundown kind that has no twists and genuine scares. In fact, all of the "scary" parts were created by using unexpected noises and creepy music, which got boring and predictable really soon. Even changes in the camera angle were accompanied by a loud bang.

The second part, however, turned into a supernatural slasher and I was actually quite thrilled, because the first part of the film had been really bad. So I adapted and stayed tuned, hoping for at least something genuine in the whole thing. Needless to say, I was disappointed once more.

Babysitter Wanted failed at everything that would have made it rise even slightly above the average mass of horror flicks. Not only was the main character annoying and unbelievable, the supporting roles weren't much better either. The protagonist kept commenting her own actions and narrating, which was unnecessary and - yup, you guessed it - annoying. The whole story just fell flat and didn't even give me a good fright nor a laugh nor evoked some sort of an emotion.

Moreover, I was disappointed that the religion aspect of the whole thing wasn't utilized and as far as I'm concerned, that's a serious loss.

So, what we have here is a shell of a movie. All of the necessary components with bad execution and with no soul.

To suggest that this is a "rip off" of "When A Stranger Calls is ridiculous. The only reason I can imagine for people to say such a silly thing is that they didn't actually watch the movie beyond the first half hour or so. It's akin to saying Cemetery Gates ripped off Delamorte Dellamore because they're both about cemeteries. Ludicrous! Babysitter Wanted bears no resemblance to WASC or to Black Christmas (the classic 1974 horror movie that 'inspired' WASC in the first place). In fact, its unlike any horror movie I've seen before.

This is a fresh, innovative and surprising movie with a plot you will not see coming. The direction, cinematography, acting, character development, pacing, story, mystery development, action, and final scenes are all top notch and again I find myself baffled by the ratings given to movies on IMDb. They seem to be particularly out of whack in the horror genre for some strange and frustrating reason.

Anyway - the only real fault I can think of here is the music was sometimes too intrusive - but that's probably more a style issue. To me the use of loud crescendos and repetitive loud beats actually detracted from the tension or shock or horror of what was on screen rather than enhancing it. That's not to say the musical score was all bad, some of it was great. It was just something I noticed during some crucial scenes.

This movie deserves a rating of at least 7 and given that they produced such a gem of a killer thriller with buckets of horror and awesome kill scenes etc on a minimal budget it should easily get an 8. One of the best I've seen that's been made in the past few years.

DO yourself a favour and get hold of this beauty! (not for the squeamish tho!!)

Once again writers have people not acting like human beings would would normally act

This flick seemed a rip-off from another rather successful horror flick, but a look at the timeline shows that it actually came out first. Inspiration for its more successful rival? With that caveat, this low-budget affair deserves an honest mention. Starting with a stale premise and relying on some annoying sound effects, this one commences to travel down the banal road of mediocrity. Thankfully, it sneaks off to be much more than that, a welcomed change of plans for what could have resulted in some rather lethargic eyes. The acting was solid, especially owing to its otherwise low rent essence. The gore was at times laughable, but this surprisingly did not detract from the film itself. The other technicalities of the film were up to par, their inconspicuous nature more a boon than a defamation. Neither unflinchingly gratuitous nor enslaved to pander to the Hollywood set,Babysitter Wanted towed the line perfectly, with a stutter stop start ending that was ultimately a pleasant relief. Merci beaucoup.

Genruk of Evil Eye Reviews

When 18 year old Angie (played by a 29 year old actress Sarah Thompson) enrolls at college she gets herself a babysitting job at a rural farmhouse. However on her first night she starts to get prank phone calls, a unknown man is outside and young Sam likes to eat what looks like raw meat... This, as soon becomes apparent, is not a typical babysitter in danger horror movie, there is a lot more going on here. Which is good because it is being creative, but it is also pretty silly, predictable and unconvincing. The creepy music adds to the initial tension, reminded me of similar films from the 70's and early 80's. The northern California locations are stunning. And Bruce Thomas, the father figure, looks and sounds like Mel Gibson. Sadly the DVD cover promised such things as one of the best horror films of the past ten years, blood drenched and a shocking twist. Reality is that it did not live up to any of this. It is a reasonable 87 minutes of horror entertainment but I certainly wouldn't watch it again.

I went into the movie not expecting much, and ended up being completely satisfied. Babysitter Wanted, unlike countless DTV horrors, is genuinely creepy and has an original plot that will stay with people. A great surprise! Angie (Sarah Thompson) moves into a small town to study in college. She meets people there, but also has a feeling that someone is stalking her. She takes up a babysitter position at a farm house one weekend, and the horror begins.

The first half of the movie is in the vein of the Strangers and When a Stranger Calls. And it's equally effective, if not more. It's easy to identify with Angie's situation. The scares are consistent, although SFX is a little overused. Tension is mounted throughout.

A great twist midway turns the movie into a different direction. Without spoiling anything, the movie veers into a supernatural angle and is equally chilling as the first half although might be too gory and disturbing for some. The plot from here on is original, leading to a satisfying ending which makes room for sequels too.

The acting is surprisingly good from everyone. The productions values are great for a low budget movie, although there are a few lighting issues in the second half.

All in all, Babysitter Wanted is a welcome surprise and horror fans will have a great time with it. Recommended.

'Babysitter Wanted' is pretty much 'horror by the numbers,' It offers little that you haven't already seen before, i.e. pretty girl being stalked by... whatever madman/beastie the filmmakers desire.

However, just because it's formulaic, doesn't mean it's that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's no classic. It won't be remembered alongside Halloween and Scream, but, if you're into horror/teen slasher, then this could give you an hour and a half's general amusement (or just under ninety minutes actually, as it's quite a short film).

A girl takes a job as a babysitter and... well, let's just say things don't turn out as planned. It's a film of two halves. It does its best to lead you in one direction, only to then pull away in another (hoping you haven't already guessed what's coming).

It's far from perfect. The director seems to want to use brief bursts of incidental music at every given opportunity. It's too much and it just gets annoying. Plus, when the babysitter is alone in the house, obviously she has no one to talk to. Therefore she - kind of - gives us viewers a running commentary of her thoughts, taking the phrase 'thinking out loud' to its literalness.

If you're into horror and easily pleased (or just very forgiving of B-movies in general) then give this one a go. It slightly raises its head above the pool of terribly generic horror offerings currently on DVD.

I still don't know what to think about this movie. I found the storyline a bit disappointment. It starts off pretty well with the torture and slaying of a young girl. I thought, okay this is going to be messy. But then the storyline is about a girl going to high school meeting a guy, she falls in love with him, you can guess who's gonna save who. Then she she's an add for babysitter. Being warned that it isn't in the neighborhood she still wants the job and gets it. What happens next isn't really frightening. Seen it all before. The boy she's babysitting is a special boy, you will see. But that fact is exaggerated, it even becomes laughable. Still for me, it never gave me the shivers down my spine, it becomes a bit bloody, but never really gory. Okay, some scene's some offended people will turn their face away, but for the geeks out there, it is just one of those torture moments, you know what I mean. The DVD cover attracts people with the name Bill Moseley, but he doesn't appear that much. For me this flick was a bit of a compilation of different horrorgems. You will have slasher moments (you think), supernatural moments, torture moments and those moments that made me think of Twilight, nothing happens except falling in love. But due the reason that you can find it easily and cheap, around 1 euro it's worth buying. But don't expect too much.

Gosh darn, this hurts. I can't tell you about the most intriguing aspect of BABYSITTER WANTED without ruining its most pleasant surprise. What's even more painful is that I have to resist using what would be the film's stronger images to illustrate this post for the same reason. Legitimate, well-thrown curve balls are so rare in horror movies these days that I couldn't live with myself if I diminished even a fraction of this movie's novel bite. Nope. I Just won't do it. Who says I don't have any scruples? (Put down your hand Aunt John, I thought those left over enchiladas in the fridge where fair game. Time to move on).

I know what you are thinking, "A babysitter in peril movie?… been there, done that," and you're absolutely right. In fact, the beginning of BABYSITTER WANTED does just about everything in its power to prove that it has no intention at all of covering new ground. Every cliché is in place: missing college girls, ominous phone calls from a shadowy stranger, even the standard small town feckless police officer makes an appearance in the form of BILL MOSLEY. Half way in, BABYSITTER may not be impressing you with its originality, but you have to admit it certainly does a fine job of imitating its slasher forefathers right down to its butter wouldn't melt protagonist and its obviously humble budget. Midway in I was far from wowed, but seriously enjoying the cozy vapors of nostalgia.

Once the comfortable, hoary stage is set though, a genuine wild card is hurled. I'm not sure if it's 100 percent convincing, but the effect is profoundly invigorating nonetheless. Suddenly the stakes are much higher than imagined and the opportunity for a fuzzy outcome deflates triple fold. It's sort of like thinking you are stepping into a puddle and ending up waist deep in mud. Directors JONAS BARNES and MICHAEL MANASSERI deserve props for patiently allowing things to gel before dropping their hammer. Kudos is also deserved for standing back and allowing some black humor to seep through the cracks once the game board is flipped. This may not be the scariest movie ever made and it does require a bit of the old suspension of disbelief (if you don't know how to do that… learn), but once things start ticking, it delivers quality suspense at regular intervals and ends up being a lot of fun.

Heading the cast as eighteen-year-old babysitter Angie is the closer to thirty television vet SARAH THOMPSON (7TH HEAVEN, ANGEL) who makes the journey from accommodating good girl to sneering survivalist without missing a beat. An equally impressive performance is given by BRUCE THOMAS, whose acting career began playing "Mini Ash #3" in ARMY OF DARKNESS and who has the chin to prove it. This misleadingly simple, covertly aggressive production is exactly what independent horror should be about. It also makes the case that the slasher genre itself has not even begun to fulfill its full potential. All the genre really needs is filmmakers like these who are not afraid to REALLY shuffle the deck before dealing the cards.

You never SAW such a mess!

The score of 5 is given for entertainment value, it is no reflection of what this flick deserves as a motion picture.

I got involved with this through going through spam from seller sites, saw the DVD box cover, "Ah, girl in distress - investigate!" Research brought to light main star is Sarah Thompson. I loved her as Eve in ANGEL. I feared ANGEL might kill her. Eve was a cute bad girl... Okay, that is another show. Point is, I was in favor of buying another Sarah Thompson title. Just to make sure, I downloaded the trailer. Everything checked out promising. I must have seen all the negative comments here. I do not overdo research, what is the point if you know too much up ahead?

Good question actually.

This movie starts off, I suppose, following the tried and tested recipe, as other reviewers all attest. About midway, everything changes. This movie turns "surprising" if it could be called that. Let me rather say, something happens, something is revealed, and from that moment on, the train is on a different track and coming off the rails. For a while I thought, maybe something could be salvaged, but it soon became apparent NO WAY!

I'm just happy to report that Sarah Thompson is so cute I could suffer through ten messes like this as long as she is in it.

It would have been a way better movie if it kept to the apparent premise without going into such dark, hitherto unexplored territory. Yeah, it brought a new angle, but one that is so deranged, yet acted out by a campy villain, that the whole movie becomes a floundering mess. And if you check out the Behind the Scenes on the DVD, no wonder, the directors are obviously kinda whacky.

Movie also underlines why I eschew blood & guts horror films BECAUSE I freak out when my heroine is getting hooked through her ankle. There is enough entrails in this one to satisfy an abattoir.

This movie starts off with a lot of horror clichés like fake scares, the dark stranger in the shadows, the clean cut innocent girl and the love interest, and for the first 45 minutes it goes along that way until a little twist that you kind of don't see coming. Then the movie changes tact, blood, gore, and cringe worthy scenes which for me save this film from being a less than average 'WHEN A STRANGER CALLS' type movie which I would've given it a 3.5 to a not bad but not good 6 out of 10. It was good to see Bill Moseley playing a normal role for him. So as a result like I said, I give this a 6 out of 10, only because of the plot twist and blood.

I KNOW that this is mainly just me, but sadly, as much as I loved the old-school Horror feel of the film, I just could NOT stand the bloody awful sound design. I know... I've mentioned this in the past. But, when EVERY sound, every paper rustle, every footstep, every car door opening, wheels on gravel, clothes rustling with every movement, even lighting a frigg'n MATCH for God's sake, the sound is cranked up so damn high that it just takes me out of the movie. Period...

Too bad too... And, in all honesty, this probably won't bother a lot of other people like it does me. But, to me personally, it is SO damn amateurish and SO frigg'n UNNATURAL, that for me, I just cannot get immersed into the film, no matter how great everything else is.

All I can humbly suggest is this...

PLEASE, for all that is Holy... Keep the damn sound design NATURAL, like we would normally hear things when in the room with these people. Bloody STOP cranking EVERY damn sound up to 100 decibels, okay...?

A real shame too because I'm sure that if I could have taken a couple of Valium or something to keep me from going insane (well, MORE insane...) I would genuinely have loved to see how the film turned out.

PLEASE... a simple warning to all aspiring and beginning film makers... PLEASE do NOT fall into this stupid, HUGELY distracting amateurish trap that so many new directors do. LISTEN to your work... Think about the audience and how they are hearing and perceiving things. KEEP it bloody NATURAL so that we can get absorbed and lost in the story, okay...?

Who writes these reviews. Thanks to them I wasted 1.5 hrs of my time. I do like a good horror and its a shame as this is not one. There are some so called gory bits but on the whole you have to like crap horror, poor scripts and annoying characters to enjoy this. I even forwarded to the end. The start was quite promising with some suspense, ooh, whats going to happen and to who? But very quickly it became obvious that I was watching a real bad horror and not bad in the good sense. My original thoughts on what will happen really didn't matter anymore as I quickly lost the will to live but persisted for almost 80 minutes, by this point I'd had enough and flicked to the end. And its open for a sequel so all you fans, careful what you wish for...

I pick this up on DVD because it was cheap, and judging by the cover and title I thought it was gonna be some cheap "When a Stranger Calls" rip off... Well, it wasn't. I was wrong.

After the introduction of beautiful Angie (Sarah Thompson) who's on her first year of college, movie starts out as your regular "stalk and slash" horror flick. Angie is babysitting since she needs money, and soon as the night falls, she starts receiving weird phone calls, there's strange noise and it seems that man with bad intentions is at the door. To make matters worst, kid she's suppose to watch is acting weird and he's only eating raw flesh... About first 50 minutes of the movie resolves around stalker invading home, but soon movie takes unpredictable twist and turns movie on it's head, into completely new movie. Anyone who tells you "I see that coming" is lying. There's a short reference of what might happen, but you'll never see it coming THAT WAY, trust me.

After "second movie" comes into play, BABYSITTER WANTED doesn't hold on on gore, nasty scenes (involving meat hook... anyone who's familiar with horror movies know that this thing can get nasty on screen) and chase for the rest of the movie. There are few unintentionally funny moments, and one of them is twist. I was shocked, I was laughing and I thought it pays some tribute to the old movies (era '60-'70) Very well directed with nice creepy atmosphere, looks more expensive then it actually is because of the great cinematography, fast-paced and talented cast. I hope horror movies will see more of Sarah in the future.

The only downside of the movie (for my taste) is Angie being too religious and this leads to a bad ending. It looks like director(s) couldn't decide which ending to go for, but the action scenes and the rest of the movie will make you completely forgive the bad ending.

One of the better 2009 horror flicks, specially for being low budget. Not to be missed by any true horror fan that know their stuff.

Just watched it. I was so eager to watch it after all the praise it got from IMDb and even a loyal facebook fan base. Stay away. The whole movie is predictable, besides the twist - which had me in hysterical laughing fits, it's plain ridiculous. The movie is one cliché after another, the acting is not too bad, but the story is just lame. I don't understand what separates this film from other 'teen slasher/horror' movies. How can someone describe it as a horror? It was utterly lame. Me and my gf predicted the film in 5 minutes. What's the point of watching something so predictable? Even the twist didn't save it. Enough with these repetitive projects, create something original. I can also admit that I enjoyed Midnight Movie more than this. Stay away not even for a rainy evening.

The religious teenager Angie Albright (Sarah Thompson) moves to a small town to study Art History in college. She finds a weird roommate and befriends the student and former altar boy Rick (Matt Dallas). Angie decides to babysit to raise money to buy a bed and she finds an advertisement to work at the distant Stanton Farm in the countryside. She is welcomed by Jim Stanton (Bruce Thomas) and his wife Violet (Kristen Dalton) that are seeking a babysitter for their son Sam (Kai Caster) and they make arrangements for Friday night. Meanwhile Angie has the sensation that someone is stalking her and she goes to the police station and reports to Chief Dinneli (Bill Moseley). On Friday night, Angie's car breaks and Rick gives a ride to Angie to go to the farm. When she is alone with Sam, a stranger breaks in the farmhouse and Angie saves Sam from the man. Soon she learns that she is in the house of evil and nothing is like she thought it would be.

"Babysitter Wanted" is a creepy and gore low budget horror movie surprisingly good. In the beginning, I thought that this movie would be a rip-off of "When a Stranger Calls" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but the story has a great and unexpected plot point to an original development. The direction is sharp and the cast has excellent performances and the boy is really creepy. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Procura-se Uma Babá" ("Babysitter Wanted")

Note: On 15 April 2019 I saw this film again.

Since some of you might want to watch this movie (which I totally don't recommend), I will review it without going into details.

In my opinion, this was a very bad horror movie. The story was really bad, and the movie wasn't even scary. Some things did not make sense at all, and had no connection to the story, -> like the priest's behavior for instance. It was a waste of time watching the movie, and it extremely boring all the way.

The only positive thing I could see, was how the killer was so cynical and psychopathic, and his acting was good. There was also an interesting twist, but then the ending spoiled that too (in my opinion).