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The Guardian follows Phil and Kate (Dwier Brown and Carey Lowell), a young married couple that is going through some changes: Phil was just hired for a new job, they just moved to Los Angeles, and they're about to have a baby. Their worst nightmare, though, is that Camilla (Jenny Seagrove), their lovely new nanny, is actually a supernatural being that sacrifices babies to a tree entity.
Director William Friedkin certainly has a talent for building atmosphere and dread; whether it is in The Exorcist or Killer Joe, or Sorcerer which I just saw earlier this month. His films always give you that sense of uneasiness and danger to its characters, whether that danger is spiritual, human, or in this case, supernatural.
Unfortunately, that effective sense of dread is paired with some weak performances and a script that feels a bit unsure of what to be. Sure, there are elements of fantasy and the supernatural, with bits of gore and horror, but there are times where it borrows from genre thrillers of the 90s like Fatal Attraction, even though some of those borrowings don't necessarily lead anywhere.
The film also doesn't really dive much into the background of what Camilla's doing. Not that there needs to be a whole lot of explanation, but there feels something missing. Coming from Friedkin, this feels a bit "cheap" and mediocre in some aspects, but it still carries that undeniable flavor of dread I mentioned, and I feel that might warrant a watch for some.
Grade:
THE GUARDIAN
(1990, Friedkin)
A film from William Friedkin
-- recommended by Russell Osborne --
(1990, Friedkin)
A film from William Friedkin
-- recommended by Russell Osborne --
"I hope you never have to wake up and find out your worst nightmare is real."
The Guardian follows Phil and Kate (Dwier Brown and Carey Lowell), a young married couple that is going through some changes: Phil was just hired for a new job, they just moved to Los Angeles, and they're about to have a baby. Their worst nightmare, though, is that Camilla (Jenny Seagrove), their lovely new nanny, is actually a supernatural being that sacrifices babies to a tree entity.
Director William Friedkin certainly has a talent for building atmosphere and dread; whether it is in The Exorcist or Killer Joe, or Sorcerer which I just saw earlier this month. His films always give you that sense of uneasiness and danger to its characters, whether that danger is spiritual, human, or in this case, supernatural.
Unfortunately, that effective sense of dread is paired with some weak performances and a script that feels a bit unsure of what to be. Sure, there are elements of fantasy and the supernatural, with bits of gore and horror, but there are times where it borrows from genre thrillers of the 90s like Fatal Attraction, even though some of those borrowings don't necessarily lead anywhere.
The film also doesn't really dive much into the background of what Camilla's doing. Not that there needs to be a whole lot of explanation, but there feels something missing. Coming from Friedkin, this feels a bit "cheap" and mediocre in some aspects, but it still carries that undeniable flavor of dread I mentioned, and I feel that might warrant a watch for some.
Grade: