The Nanny

Special effects were dreadful & the plot seemed like it was concocted by a 13 year old girl who is obsessed with fairies, folklore & fantasy. It is NOT a horror by any means. There are scarier episodes of The Simpsons at Halloween.

The Nanny was a pick and mix movie for me, I went in knowing nothing but was happy to see Jaime Murrays name pop up on the opening credits. I would class her as one of my favourite actresses and just don't think she gets the recognition she deserves.

Here in The Nanny she puts in a career best performance, but in the end it simply didn't matter.

The Nanny tells the story of a single mother who (Shocker) finds herself needing a nanny for her two children. In comes Ms Murray who is a mysterious woman that everyone deems perfect for the job, except the daughter.

Truth be told the first half of The Nanny is excellent, it's so well crafted, beautifully shot and gripping. Then the second half comes and it all falls apart, I mean really badly! A combination of silliness, poor sfx and rushed concepts ruin what was primed and ready to be an excellent film.

Part horror, part fantasy this dark fairytale also stars Nicholas "Xander from Buffy" Brendon and Schuyler "Country Singer" Fisk. It's heartbreaking to me when a film with such potential falls apart as badly as this did. I would love to see someone reshoot/rewrite the second half as it has unlimited potential!

Sadly it's potential squandered, though Murray is excellent and the first half is very enjoyable the rest of the film is an utter mess.

The Good:

First half

Jaime Murray

Masterfully shot

The Bad:

Second half

Some goofy sfx

Lots of unanswered questions

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Jaime Murray seems to connect herself to flawed movies

It's always nice to see Nicholas Brendon take time out of his busy schedule of prison to make movies

Started off good, and had an interesting story throughout. But, as it went along things became a bit jumbled and low budget. The nanny's costume towards the end was awful - they would have been better off without it. So, so close to a good movie.

It was so stupid. The dialog was hilariously atrocious. You know that girl that really likes horses, adult coloring books, The Labyrinth, and considers herself a writer? She wrote this movie.

"Never forget who you are....."

I am surprised by the low reviews because I really enjoyed this movie. It is a slow-building chiller, set in modern times, about a fragile family trying to hold it together. The single mother works double shifts and needs some help caring for her emotionally-fragile (i.e. probably clairvoyant) son, and wayward daughter. Enter the nanny, who I found to be hypnotic. She is beautiful and chilling at the same time. The daughter is leary from the start, but unable to convince Mom that the woman is not right. In the meantime, mom befriends a local neighbor man and we soon learn of his history and motives, which prove to be rather disturbing. I did not find this movie confusing, nor did I find it leaves you hanging. If you listen to all the dialog, everything will make sense in the end and no one is who they appear to be. Their motives are not so transparent as we thought. It was very atmospheric, no jump scares, no gore. Just a beautiful and chilling story.