The Babysitter [1995] (2 Stars)

This is a deconstruction of babysitter films. What I mean is, when a film is called "Babysitter" and there's a poster with a sexy looking young girl you have certain expectations. You expect some sort of edgy exploitation film with a young, possibly underage girl. Maybe she seduces the father. Maybe she seduces the boy she's babysitting. Maybe she invites her boyfriend round and they have sex on the sofa while the children are asleep. The film makers knew that these would be the expectations of the viewers, so they go out of their way to ridicule these expectations.

The age of Jennifer, the pretty young babysitter, is never stated. She's played by Alicia Silverstone, who was 18 at the time, but she looks younger in the film, possibly 15. She doesn't dress sexily, she dresses like a little girl. She doesn't do anything to provoke illicit thoughts from the other men in the film, she's just herself, young and innocent.

She's surrounded by horny men and horny boys. The family father looks at her with lust. His young teenage son looks at her with lust. Her boyfriend Jack is frustrated because he wants sex with her, but she says she's not ready yet. Her ex-boyfriend Mark, Jack's friend, makes fun of Jack and tells him he had sex with her while they were together, but it's obvious from the start that he's lying to make himself look good.

So what happens? Nothing. Jennifer doesn't want sex, she just wants to look after the children and make a few dollars. The bathroom scenes are just fantasies in the imagination of the father and son. The living room couch scenes are just fantasies in the imagination of the boys. We have to laugh at the pathetic men/boys who expect something and get nothing. The laughter stops when we realise that the film is making fun of the viewers who expect something and get nothing. All we see of Jennifer is her pretty face and occasional glimpses of her shoulders and legs. At the end of the film we feel ashamed of ourselves for wanting more, but also sad that we didn't get it.

The film made fun of me. I'm not laughing. I watched the film on Amazon Prime. I would have felt bad if I'd paid money for it.

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