From The Editor to Knife+Heart (not to mention the Suspiria remake), I think it’s clear that we’re in the middle of a Giallo renaissance. This colorful brand of Italian and Italian-inspired horror may never have truly gone away, but it’s cool to see modern filmmakers paying tribute to masters like Dario Argento with films like Abiel Bruhn and John Rocco’s weird little gem, The Night Sitter.
Elyse Dufour stars in this Christmastime thriller as Amber, a young con-artist posing as a babysitter who bites off more than she can chew once she’s hired by a bumbling paranormal enthusiast to watch over a pair of kids for the night. While things go smoothly at first, with Amber calling over some friends in order to help with robbing the house, the group is soon confronted by a malevolent trio of masked witches called “The Three Mothers”, who are now hellbent on sacrificing the children and possessing the intruders. As the witches begin to pick them off one by one, this unlikely collection of victims must now work together in order to escape a neon-drenched nightmare.
The situation eventually evolves into an Evil-Dead-inspired bloodbath featuring hypnotic hexes, demonic possessions and quite a few gory confrontations. Though this is all good fun once the film gets going, it actually takes quite a while for anything to happen, and the first half of the film is spent mostly clowning around the eerily lit house. I would have preferred a brisker pace, but the film doesn’t ever get boring thanks to the likable characters and meticulous photography.
In fact, the visuals are downright stunning, with lighting and camerawork ripped straight out of the original Suspiria; though most of the exaggerated shadows and colors are hilariously justified by this being a Christmas movie. The synth score is also pretty damn cool, reminiscent of classic bands like Goblin with a touch of John Carpenter.
Nevertheless, I’m not quite sure if the exaggerated aesthetics were a complete success here. Not only can the lighting be distracting, but The Night Sitter also seems a bit confused over exactly what kind of story it’s trying to tell. On the surface, it may seem like just an homage to classic Giallo flicks, but the narrative here doesn’t really have much in common with those films (aside from the obvious Three Mothers reference regarding the antagonists). It’s also never really established if the dreamlike camerawork is meant to be taken literally or not, so a lot of the action ends up feeling excessively staged.
I did like how the Mothers were established as a legitimate threat, but their designs and backstory felt a bit lacking, especially when compared to the amount of work that went into the rest of the film’s characters. Hell, some of the best parts of the movie were just quiet moments as we observed how Amber’s priorities changed once she realized the kids were in real danger. I also really enjoyed Amber Neukum‘s portrayal of a possessed cat burglar, and Ben Barlow as the annoying but well-meaning occult expert next-door.
Ultimately, Bruhn and Rocco have managed to craft a unique film with memorable moments and atmosphere that, while not always narratively consistent, is still a fun time with fleshed out characters and some clever homages to classic Giallo horror of the past. If you can get past the pacing issues and exaggerated visuals, you’ll find a thrilling midnight movie with a lot of heart, so I recommend giving The Night Sitter a shot.
The Night Sitter will be available on VOD and DVD starting August 6.
