Il passato di una sconosciuta

The film received negative reviews, saying it was derivative of other psychological thrillers of the 90s femme fatale, with many comparing it to the wonderful "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle". Despite this, Mariana Klaveno's performance as the psychopath Abby received praise. That said, as I love these B movies of predictable and simple suspense, they capture my attention deeply, instigate and enchant, even though they are abominably horrible, with some many holes, and so, I love it. Imperfect and adorable...

A family hires a nanny who seems to be perfect to take care of their children: young, beautiful, a good cook, careful with cleaning and, mainly, with the children. The nanny ends up becoming part of the family and gets closer every day. What the parents don't even suspect is that she was a problematic child and that she seeks some kind of revenge.

Here's an amusingly derivative psycho-thriller that acts as if all the other psychological thrillers in this genre don't exist. The template for this one, surprise surprise, is THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, but it doesn't even manage to be the first film about a psychotic babysitter – THE SITTER was already made at the beginning of the sub-genre, back in 1991, and Alicia Silverstone had a stab as a babysitter/temptress later in that decade.

This turns out to be completely predictable and routine, although it is more watchable than some dogs the genre throws up. Russell Mulcahy, once one of Hollywood's hottest directors after HIGHLANDER, invests this with a little more style than the usual journeyman types and the pacing is pretty much spot on. Horror fans are advised to ignore the routine script and enjoy the silly murder sequences, which are quite strong for a television movie. Garden murders, bathtub murders, a staircase set-piece inspired by THE OMEN and a decent wheelchair stunt; it's all present here, as well as the over-the-top climax complete with pulled-out phone cords, duct-taped victims, carving knives and the like.

None of the characters elicit much sympathy, particularly in the case of Gail O'Grady who comes across as a bit of a bimbo as the mother. It's incredible how nobody ever suspects the angelic babysitter and becomes a bit irritating. William Moses, once the young upstanding hero of PERRY MASON, is bland as the nice-guy father. The sitter herself, Mariana Klaveno, is hopeless when she tries to do menacing, so the filmmakers wisely focus on her sexuality instead and I found her fairly effective as the teenage temptress. Still, this definitely falls into the so-bad-it's-good category, so only fans of bad movies need bother applying.

If you have plenty of time to waste ... it's OK. It moves at a good pace but to pull this movie off it would need to be a little longer with a little more background on the sitter.

The acting is OK. Mariana Klaveno as the sitter does the best job and is the most believable.

William R. Moses played a pretty good part as the husband.

Gail O'Grady, as the wife, had a weak part and the reasons for her going back to work were not developed.

The ending is sort of silly. Like most of these sitter movies ... there are parts that are interesting ... but overall it leaves you wondering why you spent the time.

This version of a demented female who is out for the husband of another woman is so predictable from start to finish. In fact I selected the three people who would be sacrificed in the beginning. No surprise. I blame inept writing by Stephen Niver and bland performances for this. Sometimes it's so silly and stupid you wonder how some of the people in this ever made it out the door.

William Moses once more plays the bland husband who not only doesn't have a clue, but goes around denying all the accusations he's got a nut case watching his children. He was perfectly cast as I have yet to see this actor show any level of emotion in any of his work. Add Gail O'Grady as his wife who also hasn't a clue as to what is happening around her. She falls down the stairs fine and more than once. Duh. The kids played by Madison Davenport and Tristan Leabu don't do too much except call for mommy and daddy throughout the movie.

I did like Stacey Haiduk as the friend of the wife. She at least had some moments and showed a bit of emotion. Joanne Baron also I liked but for her stupidity at leaving her house wide open for anyone to enter, and they do - enough said. Her kid played by a vacant headed Thomas Curtis didn't do too much except ogle at the baby sitter. This is acting? Jon Lindstrom didn't have too much to do., but did what he could with a thankless role. Good to see him work in anything, even this loser.

Finally we come to the baby sitter psycho played very badly by a Mariana Klaveno who I've never heard of. She was just plain awful in this. One expression of always pouting and glaring at everyone. She's not a looker with a skinny body and flat chested and hard to believe anyone would even want to lust after her. The scene where she takes her top off for the kid next door to see was so funny as when she did, nothing was underneath to look at.

I give this a zero on all counts and good wishes to Lindstrom, Hiaduk and Baron in getting better scripts and parts. Sorry.

this movie delivers. the best is when the awkward teenage neighbor tries to bike away from the babysitter and in the background looks like he's never been anywhere near a bike in his life as he attempts not to fall off.

but this movie doesn't stop there, when less than 5 minutes later it delivers a scene of nothing but an arm reaching through a fence and into a cooler pulling out a beer.

stereotypical grilling dads, several plot lines that go nowhere, and a former seaQuest actress with a bluetooth cell phone all add up to making this the perfect Saturday night at home.