Movie Review: The Night Sitter (2019)
The Night Sitter is an independent horror film co-written and directed by Abiel Bruhn, and John Rocco. It’s about a girl named Amber (Elyse Dufour) who uses babysitting as a way into houses where she then carries out her actual job as a thief. Amber invites some friends over to help her loot the place. What they don’t know is that they are in the home of a paranormal investigator with a room full of evil. This particular gig proves to be quite difficult as she gets herself into a much different situation than expected. Dufour is definitely the most recognizable face in this cast. Most notably from her role as Frankie on The Walking Dead. She also does a fantastic job in this role, as does the rest of the cast in theirs. The acting was all great here.
The special effects department definitely deserves some credit. There were some very well-done digital and practical effects. The gore was also done well and spaced throughout the film so that when you do get it, it’s definitely worth it. There is plenty of blood to go around in the scenes that call for it. The digital effects were pretty decent as well, and they didn’t stand out. A lot of times digital effects will look hokey, but they really blended well with the scenes here. The overall production is noteworthy, though. The sound, lighting, and cinematography in this film were awesome. There really wasn’t anything that we didn’t like. Everything from the set design, score, cinematography, and lighting just really complimented each other. There were even some Raimi-esque elements in some of the scenes.
Overall, being that Bruhn and Rocco are fairly new in the writing/directing game, The Night Sitter is a great indie horror film. The quality is outstanding, and the focus being on witches is a nice direction to go, as there isn’t an over-abundance of films that focus on witches and there are even fewer that are good when they are attempted. Not sure why, but they really are under-represented compared to other sub-genres. This film, in particular, was focused on three witches from Salem called “The Three Mothers”. Each was killed in a horrific way (hanged, burned, and drowned) and they have been awakened. The name was possibly a nod to Argento’s Suspiria trilogy, which focused on three witches also called “The Three Mothers”.
While we think that a couple of characters and comedic elements could have been toned down, this film was pretty solid. If you are a fan of witches, gore, magic, or just want a fun indie horror flick to watch, The Night Sitter is for you.
The Night Sitter will be available August 6 on DVD and VOD from Uncork’d Entertainment.
