A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting: Family-friendly fantasy

A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting (2020) • View trailer

Three stars. Not rated, and suitable for all ages

By Derrick Bang 

Noting Ivan Reitman’s name among the producers of this delightful little fantasy explains much, as there’s a strong Ghostbusters vibe here.

 

Actually, let’s call this Netflix original “Buffy Meets the Ghostbusters.” Lite.

 

As they penetrate ever farther into the Grand Guignol's lair, Kelly (Tamara Smart, left)
and Liz (Oona Laurence) find it increasingly difficult to protect young Jacob (Ian Ho)
from this evil manipulator of dreams.

Director Rachel Talalay has been busy with television work, helming installments of everything ranging from Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, to Doctor Who and The Flash. Like Reitman, she has a solid handle on snarky, light-hearted fantasy, and she has just the right touch for this dip into Joe Ballarini’s children’s book trilogy.

 

Ballarini, also a director and screenwriter, handled the script himself. The result is a family-friendly romp with “scares” that are more fun than frightening.

 

Kelly Ferguson (Tamara Smart) is something of a nerdish introvert. On this particular evening, she wants to attend a raucous party in order to spend quality time near her secret crush. Alas, her mother lines her up with a babysitting assignment for the young son of Ms. Zellman (Tamsen McDonough, waspishly condescending), a high-society mover and shaker.

 

Jacob Zellman (Ian Ho) has trouble falling asleep. The poor kid is convinced that some of the toys in his room come to life at night, and he’s therefore reluctant to close his eyes, lest something dire occur.

 

That proves an understatement. Bad enough that Jacob gets stuffed into a satchel by a hideous little creature, and then dragged into a hole in the bedroom floor that quickly seals behind them. Kelly is further gobsmacked by the sudden appearance of the crisply resourceful Liz LeRue (Oona Laurence), who seems remarkably unruffled by these events.

 

Turns out Liz heads the local chapter of an international secret society of gifted babysitters who protect “special” children from monsters. This triggers a memory from Kelly’s own childhood, when — as a 4-year-old with a “gift of dreams” so vivid, that she could conjure and create real things from what she envisioned — she was rescued by a similarly adept babysitter.

 

Jacob has that same gift, which the vile Grand Guignol (Tom Felton) wishes to exploit, in order to unleash an army of nasty dream-critters on an unsuspecting world. He’s assisted by a trio of clumsy, squabbling, fire hydrant-size “Toadies” dubbed Snaggle, Roscoe and Jimmy, one of whom snatched the boy. (Imagine the Ghostbusters’ equally cranky Slimer, crossed with several Minions.)