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Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

Director: Stephen Herek

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This isn't just another teen movie. Mom is notable only for her absence, packed off for two months to Australia. That leaves 17-year -old Sue 'Swell' Ellen, her brothers Kenny, Zach and Walter, 6-year-old Melissa, and a little old lady who is clearly some sort of serial babysitter. 'TV rots your brain' she wheezes menacingly, before Kenny's satanic bedroom brings on a coronary. Once the 'sitter' has snuffed it, the kids opt to fend for themselves, and elect Swell as their breadwinner. So far, so predictable. But this is a sassy little comedy of wit and intelligence from the director of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. As Swell, Applegate is appealing and resourceful, while Coogan's dope-head Kenny contributes to a wonderfully dry, on-going marital spoof. Getz is the unctuous boardroom chauvinist to a tee, and Cassidy rounds off the picture's relaxed Cosmo-feminism as Swell's scatty boss.

Author: TCh 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


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