Patty Duke
Liz Benedict
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TV Movie
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Drama
Overprotective mother Liz Benedict meets 18-year-old orphan Joanna Redwine and hires her as house help and live-in companion to rambunctious daughter Tara. Liz's husband Jeff isn't too thrilled with the arrangement, and his fears soon prove justified when Joanna begins to manipulate everyone and to slowly destroy the family. Meanwhile, next-door neighbor Dr. Linquist investigates and discovers Joanna has a disturbing past.
Top Billed Cast
| Release Date | 1980-11-28 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 1h 36m |
| Directors | Peter Medak, Rexford L. Metz, Hugh Spencer-Phillips, John M. Poer, Mia Laschuk |
| Producers | Frank von Zerneck, David Garcia Jr. |
| Writer | Jennifer Miller |
One of the first lethal Lolita flicks
A wealthy couple and their daughter (William Shatner, Patty Duke & Quinn Cummings) move to Bainbridge Island across from Seattle wherein they enlist the services of an 18 year-old who has befriended their daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist). Big mistake. John Houseman is on hand.
"The Babysitter" (1980) is a drama/mystery with a bit o’ thriller/horror that influenced future movies like “Summer Girl” (1983), “Poison Ivy” (1992) and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992).
Patty Duke was 33 during shooting while Zimbalist was 23. Anyone who’s enamored by the latter will like this flick more than me (I think she needed to eat some cheeseburgers). It’s well done for a television production and has a sense of artistry (like “Poison Ivy,” just less so), but there’s also some tedious drama.
I appreciated the fact that at least one boating outing was shot in the rain, which is apropos for the region.
The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Burnaby and Deer Park, British Columbia, with some 2nd unit shots of Puget Sound around Bainbridge Island and Seattle.
GRADE: B-
— Wuchak