Review of The Babysitter

I love this movie. If you love exploitation, this is a true gem. The Babysitter really has it all. Bikers, switchblades, pot smoking, rock n' roll hippies, go-go dancers and tacos! All in the first ten minutes. In this story you may find a wide range of sleaze and perversion but I also noticed a real sweetness to the movie. It's about a man who feels like he has lost touch wife and starts to have a wondering eye for the babysitter. What was unique to me was the fact that neither Candy the babysitter nor Mr. Maxwell seemed inherently evil. Even though he is cheating on his wife, it couldn't seem more wholesome. Not only that but his wife is a total shrew! This film doesn't only exploit sex and violence but the, 'youth culture,' of 1969. The babysitter in question is perfectly named, Candy. She just wants to laugh and dance and have a good time. "If that what it takes to be a hippie, I guess we all have a little hippie in us," says our hero George Maxwell. He doesn't have a little hippie in him as much he has a little hippie on him! There is also a subplot that seems to be taking place on Spahn ranch in Death Valley about a bad ass biker chick trying to blackmail George to set her boyfriend free. She photographs the affair and boasts that she will take the photos to his wife and his boss if he doesn't set her convicted murderer boyfriend (her, "Old man," as she puts it) free. She also tries to photograph George's potato faced daughter, in one of the most horrifying lesbian scenes of all time! Each shot of this scene looks like the last known photograph of either party. It's so rough and gritty and awkward but I loved it. This film is so much better than the bigger budget and in color remake, "Weekend with the Babysitter 1970." Watch this with some good friends and you might be surprised how much you get into it. FOUR STARS! Does this seem a little high? Perhaps but I couldn't get this flick out of my mind! SPOILER! The end is the best, Mrs. Maxwell does end of seeing the lurid but artfully crafted photos of the affair and all she has to say to her husband is, "Well, maybe we DO play too much bridge," Hilarious!