Directors: Christopher A. Micklos and Jay Sapiro
Cast: Madeline Conway, Emmaline Friederichs, Carly Rae James Sauer
Production Company: Visuality Media Productions
Runtime: 87 minutes
Babysitting can be a little spooky sometimes. Being alone with someone else’s child in a strange house can certainly be a chilling experience. Directors Christopher A. Micklos and Jay Sapiro capture that kind of creepy atmosphere in The Nursery (2017).
In the movie, Renae (Madeline Conway) is babysitting for a local family when her friends show up to hang around. Things seem normal at first, but eventually they come into contact with the supernatural. They must uncover the reason for the haunting before it’s too late…
The Nursery has ties to more than one tradition within the genre. In some ways, it could be classified as a babysitter horror. It certainly has thematic connections to movies like Halloween (1978), When a Stranger Calls (1979), and The House of the Devil (2009).
On the other hand, The Nursery is also a supernatural thriller, similar in style to some of the Japanese remakes that were popular for a while. There are definitely moments in this film that reminded me of The Ring (2002), The Grudge (2004), and Dark Water (2005).
There’s one more cinematic connection I have to mention. Footage of Bela Lugosi from The Devil Bat (1940) is seen on television at one point in this movie. It’s always great to see modern horror films connecting with the classics. Respect where it’s due…
I’d suggest that all these connections are a good thing. The movie is deeply grounded in horror mythos, allowing it to be both familiar and new at the same time. Mysterious flashbacks, spooky dream sequences and an effective musical score certainly add a lot to the movie too.
Cell phones are put to very good use in this movie. Instead of giving us the usual excuses for why the phones don’t work, they’re used to increase the tension and horror. The characters receive strange images and cryptic texts that drive the story forward.
The movie is pretty much set in just one location, which starts to feel claustrophobic after a while. It’s not always easy to make a suburban home seem scary, but Micklos and Sapiro certainly deliver a lot of frightening moments before the final credits roll.
The plot burns slowly for a while, but dishes out some big payoffs in the final third of the movie. You can expect some effective twists as well. The lighting effects and colour are also notable. The Nursery is a paranormal encounter that you won’t want to miss…
– John Migliore
For more information on the film, check out the links below…
Indie Horror Online 