The Night Sitter – USA, 2018

‘One thief. Two kids. Three witches. No mercy.’

The Night Sitter is a 2018 American comedy horror feature film written and directed by Abiel Bruhn and John Rocco. The Roller Disco Massacre production stars Elyse Dufour, Jack Champion and Jermaine Rivers.

Rob Himebaugh composed the synth soundtrack score.

Plot:

A scheming con artist poses as innocent babysitter ‘Amber’ to steal from Ted Hooper, a wealthy occult enthusiast with a reclusive son named Kevin.

Her crew arrives to clean out the house just as Kevin stumbles upon one of his father’s most prized artefacts and unwittingly summons a trio of witches known as The Three Mothers.

As the playful, sadistic witches start picking people off, Amber and Kevin form an unlikely bond and try to survive the night together…

Reviews:

“The Night Sitter is a practical SFX laden, gory hoot of a Christmas horror that leans heavily on Dario Argento’s bold lighting and colour palette, and then takes its high jinks burglary lead from Home Alone – an unlikely, but potent mix of movie ingredients.” Stuart Wright, Britflicks

“No prizes for guessing writer-director team Bruhn and Rocco take inspiration from horror masters Argento, Raimi and Carpenter. Yet they deliver enough wit and style to make this more than another cash-in on 80s nostalgia.” Rob Daniel, Electric Shadows

“A little more focus on the story would have been welcome and the cast could have been thinned a little. There’s a really good premise here but the execution doesn’t quite do it justice.” Pip Ellwood-Hughes, Entertainment Focus

“The Night Sitter will bring back warm memories of growing up watching such young-audience fear fare as Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, with healthy dollops of stronger supernatural films such as The Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell. It’s a winning effort…” Ryan Larsen, Ghastly Grinning

“It’s a comedy horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but by the end, events have spiralled to such a point that it’s hard to keep track […] A visually thoughtful film, let down by a few plot niggles, The Night Sitter is nonetheless an entertaining Yuletide comedy horror.” Kat Hughes, The Hollywood News

“The film is very much a horror comedy, but after a promising start it does rather start to go off the rails by the final act, becomingly increasingly hysterical, gory and silly. That said, it’s by no means a terrible film and as an undemanding piece of dayglo-coloured horror fun you could do far worse. The acting is fine and funny, the love of classic Italian horror is extremely endearing…” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

” …this has a fast, funny, sit-com pace –but with cynicism and splatter, like a Goosebumps for late teenagers […] Neukum is hilarious as one stereotype transformed into another when loveable, hot idiot Lindsey turns into a cackling, malicious witch out to torment everyone who crosses her path. It’s not deep, but it delivers consistent nasty chuckles.” The Kim Newman Web Site

“The deaths are brilliantly, and surprisingly gory, whereas the score switches from a very good original creepy score that adds some great atmosphere to a currently very trendy synth-horror score […] Elyse Dufour is a good choice for the lead…” Alain Elliott, Nerdly

Main cast and characters:

• Elyse Dufour … Amber – SiREN; Hush Little Baby; The Walking Dead TV series; Sleepy Hollow TV series
• Jack Champion … Kevin
• Jermaine Rivers … Rod – Massacre on Aisle 12; The SacramentAmber Neukum … Lindsey – Schoolhouse
• J. Benedict Larmore … Martin – Dead Wedding; Rockabilly Zombie Weekend
• Ben Barlow … Vincent
• Bailey Campbell … Ronnie – Bleed
• Joe Walz … Ted Hooper – Epidemic
• Deanna Meske … Charlotte – The Z Effect; Shriek of the Sasquatch!; The Final Destination; At the House of Madness
• Manny Sandow … Crispy – Fetish Trap
• Luna Devika … Slimy
• Victoria Graham … Noose
• Alyx Libby … Pool Vixen
• Scott Marche … Mr. Willard
• Jazmine Yurtin … Pizza Boy
• Riley Gallagher … Fake Shemp
• Madeline Grayson … Fake Shemp
• Tahany Hmaid … Fake Shemp
• Amanda K. Morales … Mrs. Hooper

Filming locations:

Nashville, Tennessee

Release:

The Night Sitter had its world premiere in London at the Arrow Video FrightFest on 26 August 2018.

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