Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Horror
Themes: Nannies and Caregivers, Assumed Identities
Main Cast: Jenny Seagrove, Dwier Brown, Carey Lowell, Brad Hall, Miguel Ferrer
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The Exorcist director William Friedkin made a return to the horror genre with this blend of straightforward suspense and Druid myth-inspired horror-fantasy. The idyllic lives of yuppie couple Phil and Kate (Dwier Brown and Carey Lowell) seem complete when they select the winsome young Camilla (Jenny Seagrove) as a live-in nanny for their newborn child, but the lovely young Camilla -- whose natural sexuality begins to work its spell on Phil -- is not what she appears to be. This becomes shockingly apparent to the audience early in the story when she is set upon by a trio of rape-minded thugs who meet with a particularly nasty fate in the woods, but it seems to take the parents much longer to come to the same conclusion. In fact, the woods are the key to the entire equation, as Camilla is revealed to be a powerful forest entity from Druid mythology who intends to sacrifice her infant charge to a hideous tree-god. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Natalia Nogulich - Molly Sheridan; Iris Bath - Mrs. Horniman; Xander Berkeley - Detective; Pamela Brull - Gail Krasno; Josh Fischman - Baby Jake; Jacob Gelman - Scotty; Rita Gomez - Rosaria; Dr. Berry Herman - Doctor at Birth; Craig Nemeth - Baby Jake; Frank Noon - Punk; Willy Parsons - Punk; Theresa Randle - Arlene Russell; Ray Reinhardt - Dr. Klein; Bonnie Snyder - Older Woman; Gary Swanson - Allan Sheridan; Jack David Walker - Punk
Credit
Bruce A. Miller - Art Director, Denise Cronenberg - Costume Designer, Renee Alaina Sacks - Costume Designer, William Friedkin - Director, Seth Flaum - Editor, Jack Hues - Composer (Music Score), Gene Lees - Songwriter, David Bridie - Songwriter, Teresa M. Austin - Makeup, Gregg Fonseca - Production Designer, John A. Alonzo - Cinematographer, David Salven - Production Manager, Todd Black - Producer, Michael Borofsky - Producer, Dan Greenburg - Producer, Joe Wizan - Producer, David Salven - Producer, Sarah Burdick - Set Designer, Philip C. Cory - Special Effects, Matthew Mungle - Special Effects, Buddy Joe Hooker - Stunts, William Friedkin - Screenwriter, Dan Greenburg - Screenwriter, Stephen Volk - Screenwriter, Bill Evans - Featured Music, Dan Greenburg - Book Author
This ended up as Friedkin's last film not to be distributed by Paramount Pictures until 2007's Bug, distributed by Lionsgate.
Plot summary
This film is the story of a family who employs a nanny to take care of their child. The nanny turns out to really be a Druid-like tree spirit worshipper, who is into sacrificing newborn babies to the tree deity.
