Review of The Babysitter: Killer Queen

By Dave B.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen (sequel 2017’s “The Babysitter”) takes place two years after the original and finds the protagonist, Cole, as a high school junior who is ostracized by his peers and thought insane by his family. The reason? Despite his harrowing fight for survival against the blood cult, there’s no evidence supporting that anything untoward took place. When his family finally tires of Cole’s unwillingness to recant his account of events, they plan on having him institutionalized. Upon discovering this, Cole flees with his best friend to a boathouse where he hopes to clear his head and come up with a plan. But Cole’s past catches up to him when the cult, revived from the dead and assisted by new acolytes, again come hunting for his blood.

In my review of the original “The Babysitter”, I noted that despite finding the movie distinctly unfunny, it’s redeemed somewhat by strong performances, good energy, and a moderately interesting concept. Killer Queen is almost the exact opposite: the humor largely works, but very little else does. Part of the problem with this sequel is that the charismatic energy between Samara Weaving (Bee, the babysitter) and Judah Lewis (Cole), is absent due to the two not sharing a scene for most of the movie. A bigger  problem is that, whereas the coming-of-age elements in the plot of “The Babysitter” showed some intelligence and heart, the writing in Killer Queen (which is more focused on Cole discovering his place in the world as he approaches “manhood”) is clearly lacking in both creativity and effort. 

Despite being weaker in many ways than it’s predecessor, the saving graces for Killer Queen are that it it’s genuinely funny (at times), it never takes itself seriously, and it offers a satisfying conclusion to a story that I had initially thought ended just fine. A campier, sillier sequel is acceptable, so long as that’s the intent of the film, and in this case, it clearly is. 

Overall, The Babysitter: Killer Queen succeeds where the original fails and fails where the original succeeds. For that reason, like its predecessor, this movie will not be receiving my recommendation. However, if you enjoyed the “The Babysitter”, I think there’s a decent chance that you will at least appreciate Killer Queen. So even reluctant fans of the original may find some value in turning off their brains for a bit and relaxing with some gory fun.  

Service: Netflix
Runtime: 102 Minutes
Rating: 5.5/10