Name: The Babysitter
Genre: TV Movie, Thriller, Drama
Released: 1980-11-28
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 5.6
Cast: Patty Duke, William Shatner, Quinn Cummings, Stephanie Zimbalist, David Wallace

She drove the mother mad. She seduced the father. Now, what's going to happen to little Tara?

Director: Peter Medak

Writer: Jennifer Miller

Producer: David Garcia Jr.

Overprotective mother Liz Benedict meets 18-year-old orphan Joanna Redwine and hires her as house help and live-in companion to rambunctious daughter Tara. Liz's husband Jeff isn't too thrilled with the arrangement, and his fears soon prove justified when Joanna begins to manipulate everyone and to slowly destroy the family. Meanwhile, next-door neighbor Dr. Linquist investigates and discovers Joanna has a disturbing past.

96 min Rating: 5.6/10 Released

Top Cast

Patty Duke

Liz Benedict

William Shatner

Dr. Jeff Benedict

Quinn Cummings

Tara Benedict

Stephanie Zimbalist

Joanna Redwine

David Wallace

Scotty

Kenneth Tigar

Tom Montgomery

Movie Info

Director: Peter Medak

Writer: Jennifer Miller

Producer: David Garcia Jr.

Production Companies: Filmways Television, Moonlight Productions, ABC

Countries: United States of America

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User Reviews

What Others Said

Wuchak: **_One of the first lethal Lolita flicks_** A wealthy couple and their daughter (William Shatner, Patty Duke & Quinn Cummings) move to Bainbridge Island across from Seattle wherein they enlist the services of an 18 year-old who has befriended their daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist). Big mistake. John Houseman is on hand. "The Babysitter" (1980) is a drama/mystery with a bit o’ thriller/horror that influenced future movies like “Summer Girl” (1983), “Poison Ivy” (1992) and "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" (1992). Patty Duke was 33 during shooting while Zimbalist was 23. Anyone who’s enamored by the latter will like this flick more than me (I think she needed to eat some cheeseburgers). It’s well done for a television production and has a sense of artistry (like “Poison Ivy,” just less so), but there’s also some tedious drama. I appreciated the fact that at least one boating outing was shot in the rain, which is apropos for the region. The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Burnaby and Deer Park, British Columbia, with some 2nd unit shots of Puget Sound around Bainbridge Island and Seattle. GRADE: B-