The Mosley Review: The Babysitter: Killer Queen

Horror film sequels can go either 1 of 2 directions: Keep the same balance between good storytelling, shock, gore, comedy and sometimes a cool message OR lean more into the comedy bits of the original and go further into the spoof direction while exploring other horror film tropes. This film did both, but leaned more into the latter. The original film was absolutely fantastic and had the perfect balance of a classic slasher meets Home Alone. It had a great balance with its well placed comedic moments and sweet story. The sequel picks up after the original and leans too heavily into the comedy, ridiculous gags and grindhouse level of insanity that it almost loses its spirit. There are some genuine funny and awesome moments that poke fun of other horror film tropes, but its almost buried under some unfocused and truly unnecessary moments of site gags that its just nonsense. I had fun with this film, but I wish it stayed true to the restraints of the original film.

All the cast return from the original and we get a few new faces that join the fray. Judah Lewis returns once again as an older Cole and I liked that he was a bit strange. The man has been some serious stuff and it was trippy to see some of his trauma manifest into some disturbing visions and nightmares. He is still a great and even more quirky hero. Emily Alyn Lind returns as Melanie and she was equally fantastic in every scene. I liked what happened to her character and it shows the petty nature of a high school kid living today. Maximilian Acevedo was the classic high school douche, Juliocesar Chavez was a perfect loud mouth as Diego and Jennifer Foster was excellent as the mean friend as Boom Boom. A real standout was Jenna Ortega as Phoebe. She may come off as a carbon copy of the alternative, "I don't care" type of girl you see in all high school films, but she is a lot more than that. Her chemistry with Judah was great and their scenes were the funniest. The formally dead villains from the original film return and they're just as fun as you remember them. Bella Thorne was just as good if not better as Allison. Hana Mae Lee was even more sadistic as Sonya. Andrew Bachelor once again almost steals the film with his hilarious reactions and quips to the crazy carnage happening around him. Robbie Amell was even more amazing as Max and I love that his respect for Cole has grown even though he's still trying to kill him. I really was delighted to see Samara Weaving return as Bee. The chemistry between her and Judah is still there it was heartwarming.

The score by Bear McCreary was outstanding and really sold the more gothic and epic moments. Like I said before, this film has some serious problems. I hated the fact that the film dove head first into the more grindhouse and fun house of horrors pool. The style and rules were set up previously and it almost throws them all out of the window. There were fun moments of outrageous amounts of gore in some death scenes that I loved, but it is undermind by needless comedy and a piss joke that was completely unnecessary. If the heart, balanced comedy and storytelling was focused on instead of showing the next over the top, 70's music video styled dumb joke, this film would've been on par with the original. I did have fun with some truly great moments even though they were few and far between. Overall, I was disappointed by this film. It didn't feel like a cash grab, but it felt like the writers and director forgot what film they were making a sequel to. I say watch the original film, enjoy it and if you want to see the disappointing sequel, then be prepared to be angry. It is currently streaming on Netflix and if you liked this review, then let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!