The Babysitter

I watched The Babysitter as part of BCI Eclipse' Drive-in Cult Classics (featuring Crown International Pictures releases) on DVD. I think it is a very good film.

This movie packs a lot of story into a very short time. You have hippies, rock music, bikers, lesbians, sexual impropriety, blackmail, and murder, all in one spot!

The lead actors do a credible job. And, I found the intricately woven plot to be believable and interesting.

However, the supporting cast, primarily the bikers, delivers a stilted performance, particularly when asked to deliver lines with more than just a few words. Perhaps they used real bikers, instead of actors. A couple of the characters, in particular, were exceptionally believable.

The musical score is absolutely spot-on, for the times, the tempo, and for moving the story forward. I found the music a real treat. I noticed in the opening credits that the movie featured the music of "The Food," I googled them; but, couldn't find anything...

In any case, George E. Carey who wrote, produced and starred in this movie liked the idea so much (of a wayward married man brought to redemption through trials and tribulation; and, a little help - of course) that he wrote, produced and starred in "Weekend with the Babysitter."

THE BABYSITTER is a better movie than the title might suggest. Is it a low-budget, drive-in movie from the late 1960's? Yes. Does it feature bikers, nudity, and -egad!- "go-go dancing"? Indeed. However, it's the story that rises above the usual muck.

It's about George and Edith Maxwell (George E. Carey and Anne Bellamy) a middle aged couple who find themselves on the rocks, ever since their new, unexpected child was born. The marital tension is intense, with the wife blaming the husband, who shuts himself off completely.

Enter Candy Wilson (Patricia Wymer), the title character. She's young, pretty, and a very free spirit! In fact, she represents everything that has drained out of the Maxwells' marriage. She also has quite an effect on George.

Of course the aforementioned elements enter the picture, with lurid results. There's revenge, blackmail, and murder.

Still, the movie is solid enough to include the madness and remain watchable...

Just watched this little piece of exploitation and somewhat enjoyed it. Obviously, its a cynical take on the free love era. The idea that a eighteen year old baby sitter would be able to sneak her friends into her employer's house for a groovy band practice while they're away is ludicrous yet pretty damn funny. That she turns out to be a tramp is believable but her vicious side toward the end seems a bit too much. I don't feel like I'm giving too much away by saying this seems almost like the fantasy of a square henpecked lawyer who wants to take advantage of the freedoms of sexual liberation without facing any of the consequences. For some that's the American dream: flouting laws and societal conventions and still getting to keep your job and social standing. For someone like myself who didn't grow up in that era, a lot of its seems alien and laughable at times. Even those riding the crest of the sexual liberation movement were quick to see its downside though. I guess i would prefer this movie too some rosy glasses colored film that really thought peace and love would conquer the world's overwhelming problems. A star rating seems really hard to do with something like this. It has a plot. It has some twists and turns. Overall, its trash but I didn't feel like I'd completely squandered my time.

This familiar story of an older man/younger woman is surprisingly hard-edged. Bikers, hippies, free love and jail bait mix surprisingly well in this forgotten black-and-white indie effort. Lead actress Patricia Wymer, as the titular "Candy," gives the finest performance of her career (spanning all of 3 drive-in epics). Wymer was precocious and fetching in THE YOUNG GRADUATES (1971), but gives a more serious performance in THE BABYSITTER. The occasional violence and periodic nudity are somewhat surprising, but well-handled by the director. Leads Wymer and George E. Carey sell the May/December romance believably. There are enough similarities between THE BABYSITTER and THE YOUNG GRADUATES to make one wonder if the same director helmed the latter film as well. Patricia Wymer, where are you?

Hailing from Seattle, WA, Miss Wymer had appeared as a dancer on the TV rock and roll show MALIBU U, before gracing the cover (as well as appearing in an eight-page spread) of the August, 1968 issue of "Best For Men," a tasteful adults-only magazine. She also appeared as a coven witch in the popular 1969 cult drive-in shocker THE WITCHMAKER.

THE BABYSITTER has finally made its home video debut, as part of the eight-film BCI box set DRIVE-IN CULT CLASSICS vol. 3, which is available from Amazon.com and some retail stores such as Best Buy.

Late 2011 update: the original camera negatives for THE BABYSITTER were found! Code Red released a far superior DVD of the film, mastered from the uncut negatives. It was available via direct mail order with Code Red, and occasionally on Amazon.com.

"George Maxwell" (George E. Carey) is a mild-mannered Assistant District Attorney who has been given the task of prosecuting a motorcycle gang member for committing the horrific murder of a young woman. His wife, "Edith Maxwell" (Anne Bellamy) has gone completely frigid after having a baby 8 months earlier and as a result George is both lonely and frustrated. It's at this time that Edith hires a sexy babysitter named "Candy Wilson" (Patricia Wymer) who promptly goes about trying to seduce George. At first George is able to maintain his discipline but eventually he succumbs to Candy's charms and things take an immediate turn for the worse after that. Now, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this particular film was one of eight included in a DVD set titled ""Drive-in Cult Classics, Volume 3" which contains motion pictures typically seen at drive-ins in the 60's and 70's. In most cases these movies were at best grade-B offerings meant to partially augment the lack of quality films available to drive-ins during this time. Most of them are low-budget, sexploitation projects and this particular film is no exception. Although filmed in black-and-white, this specific movie has a couple of things going for it which raises it a notch or two higher than some of the other pictures of this type. First, it has the luscious actress Patricia Wymer in a leading role and she practically carries this film all by herself. Additionally, George E. Carey performs in a professional manner which also helps this movie to a lesser extent. In short, while this certainly isn't a great movie by any means, I found it to be satisfactory for the most part, and I rate it as about average.