The Babysitter: Killer Queen
The Babysitter: Killer Queen is a 2020 American comedy horror film, directed and produced by McG, from a screenplay by McG, Dan Lagana, Brad Morris and Jimmy Warden.[2] It is a sequel to the 2017 film The Babysitter and stars Judah Lewis, Emily Alyn Lind, Jenna Ortega, Robbie Amell, Andrew Bachelor, Leslie Bibb, Hana Mae Lee, Bella Thorne, Samara Weaving, and Ken Marino. The film continues the story of Cole Johnson, now in his junior year of high school, who must again fight to ensure his survival over one night, as he is hunted by demonic enemies, both old and new.
The Babysitter: Killer Queen | |
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Official release poster | |
Directed by | McG |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Based on | Characters by Brian Duffield |
Starring | |
Music by | Bear McCreary |
Cinematography | Scott Henriksen |
Edited by | Martin Bernfeld |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The film was released on September 10, 2020, on Netflix.
Plot
Two years after a satanic cult led by his former babysitter Bee tried to kill him, Cole is now a junior in high school. He is unable to convince anyone, except for his best friend Melanie, of Bee's life-threatening plot; his parents and most others think he had a psychotic break. He discovers that his parents have enrolled him in a psychiatric school, and he escapes with Melanie alongside her new boyfriend Jimmy, and their friends Boom-Boom and Diego to join a lake party.
At the party, Cole witnesses the arrival of new student Phoebe at the lake after finding a stuffed toy and directions to the lake. Later, Cole's friends play a party game on a boat when Melanie suddenly kills Boom-Boom with a boathook and saves her blood. Melanie, Jimmy and Diego are revealed as cult members. With Boom-Boom's blood as a sacrifice, they need Cole's blood as an offering of an "innocent" to make their wishes come true. Original cultists Sonya, Allison, Max, and John also appear, having been resurrected so they could partake in the ritual by sunrise. However, Phoebe suddenly appears, looking for gas for her jet ski, and provides Cole with some time to evade the cult members and escape with Phoebe on her jet ski.
Once on land, Cole explains everything to Phoebe, who believes him, while the cultists give chase. Sonya makes the first attempt to kill them, but they end up running her over with a car left by a stranger and decapitate her with a surfboard. Allison finds them, but the two trap her between a narrow wedge of rocks and rip her head off. The two board a boat and drive off, but Max catches the raft attached to the back of the boat and is able to pull himself onto the boat. However, Phoebe sets him on fire with a can of silly string and a lighter, then shreds him with the boat's propellor. Diego and Jimmy supernaturally disintegrate when they attempt to back off from their pursuit of Cole.
Cole and Phoebe arrive at Phoebe's old family cabin, where they take refuge and hope to wait out the night. In the cabin bunker, Phoebe reveals to Cole that her parents died because she crashed into them in a fatal car accident. Cole comforts her, and the two have sex. Melanie calls Cole's father Archie, who has been searching for him alongside Melanie's father Juan, and fakes being drunk so that he can pick them up, hoping to lure Cole out. Cole and Phoebe come out of the bunker armed with crossbows and John accidentally kills himself when a chandelier crashes on him. Archie gives Cole a sleeping drug so he can take him to his car as Melanie kills Juan with a machete and captures Phoebe.
While stopping for gas, Cole regains consciousness, locks Archie out of the car, and drives back to the lake to save Phoebe. In a cove, Melanie holds Phoebe hostage before Cole shows up and volunteers to be sacrificed. Bee emerges from the water and is revealed to be Phoebe's babysitter who was responsible for the car accident that killed her parents. She made a deal with the devil to save Phoebe's life in exchange for her soul. Sonya, Allison, Max, and John are resurrected again, and the four alongside Melanie drink the blood of Cole mixed with Boom-Boom's blood. However, since Cole has had sex with Phoebe, the ritual backfires and the five melt and disintegrate. Max is proud of Cole, while John tries to accept Jesus Christ as his savior before dying. Bee, who did not drink the blood, reveals that she orchestrated everything so that Phoebe and Cole could unite and defeat the cult, having had a change of heart after Cole's love confession after her initial defeat. However, since Bee is still technically a demon, she drinks the blood and disintegrates to save the two. Archie shows up and, having witnessed Bee's death, now believes what Cole said was true. As the sun comes up, Cole and Phoebe embrace in a kiss, while Archie looks on proudly.
Cast
- Judah Lewis as Cole, a high school student. He is bullied by his entire school because he tried to convince his classmates about the mysterious incident that happened at his house involving a satanic cult two years ago, which led people to think he is crazy. He also suffers from PTSD and takes multiple medications on a daily basis.
- Emily Alyn Lind as Melanie, Cole's childhood friend and best friend.
- Jenna Ortega as Phoebe, a new student attending Cole's school
- Robbie Amell as Max, a resurrected cult member
- Andrew Bachelor as John, a resurrected cult member
- Hana Mae Lee as Sonya, a resurrected cult member
- Bella Thorne as Allison, a resurrected cult member
- Samara Weaving as Bee, secret leader of a devil-worshipping cult and Cole's former babysitter.
- Ken Marino as Archie, Cole's father
- Leslie Bibb as Phyliss, Cole's mother
- Chris Wylde as Juan, Melanie's father
- Carl McDowell as "Big" Carl McManus
- Maximilian Acevedo as Jimmy, Melanie's boyfriend and fellow cult member
- Juliocesar Chavez as Diego, Melanie's friend and fellow cult member
- Jennifer Foster as Boom-Boom, Melanie, Jimmy and Diego's friend.
- Raymond Patterson as Mr. Nordy
- Helen Hong as Principal Highbridge
- Jason Rogel as Officer Phil
- Scott MacArthur as Leeroy
- Amanda Cerny as Violet
Production
In September 2019, it was announced Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor, Emily Alyn Lind, Leslie Bibb and Ken Marino would reprise their roles from the first film in the sequel, with McG directing from a screenplay by McG, Dan Lagana, Brad Morris and Jimmy Warden, and Wonderland Sound and Vision and Boies/Schiller Film Group co-financing and producing.[3] McG described the story as being based on Faust but with ridiculous jokes like in a Mel Brooks film.[4] In October 2019, Jenna Ortega joined the cast in one of the lead roles.[5]
Principal photography took place on location in Los Angeles, California, in 2019.[6]
The corduroy suit worn by Lewis is an homage to Wes Anderson.[4]
Music
Bear McCreary composed the score for the film.[7]
Release
The film was released on Netflix on September 10, 2020.[8]
Reception
Early reviews for The Babysitter: Killer Queen were "leaning negative",[9] with critics calling the film "uninspired" and "embarrassing".[10]
As of November 2020, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film had an approval rating of 48% based on reviews from 40 critics, with an average rating of 4.84/10.[11] As of November 2020, on Metacritic, it had a weighted average rating of 22 out of 100, based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12]
Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote: "Fans of the original will no doubt tune-in expecting more high-grade guilty-pleasure fun, only to get way too much of a no-longer-very-good thing instead."[13]
Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed called it "flawed but a lot of fun, and has a good time with its gore and grue as the original did".[14]
David Gelmini of Dread Central awarded it a score of 4.5 out of 5, calling it a "worthy sequel with a decent amount of gore and suspense", and praising the performances of the lead actors.[15]
Future
In September 2020, McG confirmed plans for a third film, stating that it depends on the success of Killer Queen.[16]
References
- "The Babysitter: Killer Queen". Netflix. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- "The Babysitter: Killer Queen". Retrieved July 4, 2020.
- Kit, Borys (September 25, 2019). "Judah Lewis Returning for Sequel to Netflix Horror Flick 'The Babysitter' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- Oller, Jacob (September 11, 2020). "The Babysitter: Killer Queen's McG talks Supernatural's end, Tarantino kills, and social media woes". SYFY WIRE.
- Galuppo, Mia (October 18, 2019). "'Jane the Virgin' Actress Jenna Ortega Joins 'The Babysitter' Sequel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 25, 2019). "Ken Marino Returning For Netflix's 'The Babysitter 2'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- "Bear McCreary Scoring McG's 'The Babysitter: Killer Queen'". Film Music Reporter. September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- Squires, John (August 2, 2020). "Sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen Coming to Netflix in September!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- "Netflix's The Babysitter: Killer Queen Reviews Are In, See What Critics Are Saying". CINEMABLEND. September 10, 2020.
- Moniuszko, Sara M. "Critics slam 'The Babysitter: Killer Queen' as 'uninspired' and 'embarrassing'". USA TODAY.
- "The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- "The Babysitter: Killer Queen". Metacritic. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
- Harvey, Dennis (September 10, 2020). "'The Babysitter: Killer Queen' Review: A Fun Ride Derails in Overblown, Unfunny Netflix Sequel". Variety.
- Felix Vasquez Jr (2020). "The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)". Cinema-Crazed.com.
- Gelmini, David (September 16, 2020). "THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN Review – One Of The Best Horror Sequels In A Long Time". Dread Central. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- "The Babysitter 3 Already Planned From Original Director". Screenrant. Retrieved September 13, 2020.