McG made the film "The Babysitter: Killer Queen", but did he manage to preserve the spirit of the original comedy horror?

Quite unexpectedly and without much fanfare, the film "The Babysitter: Killer Queen" debuted on Netflix, serving as a sequel to the comedy horror that gave a boost to the rapid career development of Samara Weaving.

Did the sequel manage to surpass the original? How funny and bloody did the horror film by director McG turn out? You will find answers to these and many other questions in our review.

Same rules, different setting

Two years have passed since the events of the first film. The main character is still traumatized by the horrific events of that night when a satanic cult led by his hot babysitter (Samara Weaving) tried to kill the boy for a ritual. The interesting part is that the bodies of the cult members were never found, so everyone decided that Cole (Judah Lewis) made it all up.

By a twist of fate, Cole once again finds himself drawn into a confrontation with the same cult. Not only have new members joined, including his classmates, but old acquaintances also shine again, resurrected literally for one night if they fail to finish what they started.

McG ("This Means War") and the team didn't reinvent the wheel and replicated the exact same formula in "The Babysitter: Killer Queen" — the protagonist must survive until morning, the villains must die in the most gruesome and unexpected ways, all accompanied by jokes of varying intellectual levels. The only change is the setting — instead of a house, it's now a deserted desert where chances of rescue are even slimmer.

More blood, more failed humor

The original film skillfully balanced on the edge of a bloody slasher and a teen comedy about a pubescent adolescent. There weren't many jokes and gags, but the humor was also carried by parody elements mocking genre clichés.

"The Babysitter: Killer Queen" (who even came up with that localization?!) noticeably increased the scale: even more impressive episodes of cult member killings appeared, even more deliberately fake blood pours from the screen, and peculiar comic book inserts in the style of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" were added, and so on.

At the same time, the spirit of parody disappeared. Yes, the viewer clearly understands that a comedy is being played out, but the jokes often miss the mark (or hit below the belt, if you will), and that very mockery of clichés is gone. Cinephile references, like the joke about a black character not dying first in horror after Jordan Peele's work, could have saved the situation, but unfortunately, such textual humor is extremely scarce in the film.

Is it worth watching "The Babysitter: Killer Queen"?

McG made a lively and utterly silly film with beautiful actors (Weaving, Amell, Thorne, Ortega), an abundance of second-rate humor, a killer soundtrack, a derivative plot, and even quotations from Goethe. If the description of such a cocktail doesn't make your head spin or cause rejection, then watching this movie might brighten your evening.

Trailer: