The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)
September 11, 2020 2:19 PM - Subscribe
Two years after Cole survived a satanic blood cult, he's living another nightmare: high school. And the demons from his past? Still making his life hell. (Netflix)
TV Guide Review: Netflix's Horror-Comedy Sequel Is Just Plain Embarrassing - "The Babysitter: Killer Queen might very well be the worst thing I've watched in 2020, and I sat through the State of the Union Address."
Variety Review: A Fun Ride Derails in Overblown, Unfunny Netflix Sequel - More Satanic hijinks equal much less fun in McG's disappointing Netflix horror comedy sequel.
Decider - Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Babysitter: Killer Queen’ on Netflix, a McGquel Offering Diminishing Returns
Roger Ebert.com review: "The biggest problem is a common one in sequels: Everything here feels desperately designed with the artistic theory of overkill. It’s the difference between a cult hit in the making that sneaks up on you and a movie that screams at you to like it. “The Babysitter” may not have been breakthrough quality filmmaking, but its sequel nearly makes it look that good. Maybe someone at Netflix signed a deal with the devil to get that unexpected first hit and this follow-up is Satan coming to take his payment. Let’s all start praying an exorcist arrives before the third movie."
TV Guide Review: Netflix's Horror-Comedy Sequel Is Just Plain Embarrassing - "The Babysitter: Killer Queen might very well be the worst thing I've watched in 2020, and I sat through the State of the Union Address."
Variety Review: A Fun Ride Derails in Overblown, Unfunny Netflix Sequel - More Satanic hijinks equal much less fun in McG's disappointing Netflix horror comedy sequel.
Decider - Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Babysitter: Killer Queen’ on Netflix, a McGquel Offering Diminishing Returns
Roger Ebert.com review: "The biggest problem is a common one in sequels: Everything here feels desperately designed with the artistic theory of overkill. It’s the difference between a cult hit in the making that sneaks up on you and a movie that screams at you to like it. “The Babysitter” may not have been breakthrough quality filmmaking, but its sequel nearly makes it look that good. Maybe someone at Netflix signed a deal with the devil to get that unexpected first hit and this follow-up is Satan coming to take his payment. Let’s all start praying an exorcist arrives before the third movie."
Okay, that’s pretty definitive! I was considering watching this with my partner and her young horror-aficionado son, because we enjoyed the first one, but I am convinced otherwise.
posted by ejs at 8:59 PM on September 11, 2020
posted by ejs at 8:59 PM on September 11, 2020
As usual, critics gave a schlocky B movie poor reviews. Never trust critic reviews for movies like this unless they have a track record for reviewing bad movies. The tomatometer having this thing as critic 41% and audience 74% is exactly what you want to see when picking a B movie to watch.
This was an incredibly stupid B movie that knows it is trash and leans into it with camp and quips. It is at its worst when it tries for any semblance of sincerity and at its best when it does things like have someone block an escape by hammer-dancing. It tries just enough for these things to feel incongruous, which gives it that WTF je ne sais quoi that makes you look at your group of b movie fans stop for a second and go, "Did they really just shout 'silence, rapist!' while popping out of nowhere with a flamethrower?"
This breezed by and had enough stupidity and cgi gore to keep me interested. I think the Scott Pilgrim style flourishes weigh it down a bit, but overall they were fine except for one video game style fight scene that I don't think worked at all.
Certainly not good, but it is bad in the right ways.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 10:45 PM on September 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
This was an incredibly stupid B movie that knows it is trash and leans into it with camp and quips. It is at its worst when it tries for any semblance of sincerity and at its best when it does things like have someone block an escape by hammer-dancing. It tries just enough for these things to feel incongruous, which gives it that WTF je ne sais quoi that makes you look at your group of b movie fans stop for a second and go, "Did they really just shout 'silence, rapist!' while popping out of nowhere with a flamethrower?"
This breezed by and had enough stupidity and cgi gore to keep me interested. I think the Scott Pilgrim style flourishes weigh it down a bit, but overall they were fine except for one video game style fight scene that I don't think worked at all.
Certainly not good, but it is bad in the right ways.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 10:45 PM on September 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
This was an incredibly stupid B movie that knows it is trash and leans into it with camp and quips.
I'm not so sure it knew it was trash though - it felt to me like the movie thought it was smarter/funnier than it really was. Also, I was reminded of the MST3K of that Raul Julia 'Memory Bank' movie with the Casablanca references where they're like 'why would you remind the audience about a great movie inside your terrible movie?'. There's a line between homage/sample and lifting things wholesale, and Killer Queen went pretty far over the line. Using the Tangerine Dream 'Risky Business' music, having Cole do John Cusack's crazy-hitchhiker dialogue from 'The Sure Thing'? Maybe they were trying to be meta, or considered them Easter eggs for us children of the 80's, but, I found it off-putting.
Granted, I am not a B-movie/horror buff - I probably like the horror movies I like in spite of them being horror rather than seeking out the genre on purpose. But I definitely think the first movie had something that this one didn't.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:30 AM on September 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm not so sure it knew it was trash though - it felt to me like the movie thought it was smarter/funnier than it really was. Also, I was reminded of the MST3K of that Raul Julia 'Memory Bank' movie with the Casablanca references where they're like 'why would you remind the audience about a great movie inside your terrible movie?'. There's a line between homage/sample and lifting things wholesale, and Killer Queen went pretty far over the line. Using the Tangerine Dream 'Risky Business' music, having Cole do John Cusack's crazy-hitchhiker dialogue from 'The Sure Thing'? Maybe they were trying to be meta, or considered them Easter eggs for us children of the 80's, but, I found it off-putting.
Granted, I am not a B-movie/horror buff - I probably like the horror movies I like in spite of them being horror rather than seeking out the genre on purpose. But I definitely think the first movie had something that this one didn't.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:30 AM on September 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
I love B horror movies. Love 'em. This was not an enjoyable watch. I agree with oh yeah! that the movie thought it was smarter than it was. I ended up watching Toxic Avenger II last night as part of an online watch party and if you want silly campy trash that's a much better film.
posted by miss-lapin at 11:33 AM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by miss-lapin at 11:33 AM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm with forbiddencabinet, this was fun trash. Specifically, it is the kind of horror sequel trash made by people who truly love trashy horror sequels.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:05 PM on September 20, 2020
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:05 PM on September 20, 2020
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posted by oh yeah! at 2:26 PM on September 11, 2020