Movie
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)
Another of those template movies with a storyline recycled dozens of times since, the villain is a nanny with ulterior motives who worms her way into an overly trusting suburban family. This will surely sound very familiar, but a strong actress can elevate a film above the mediocre field, and Rebecca De Mornay delivers the goods as the scheming and manipulative Peyton Flanders.
Before she employed the nanny from hell, Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) went to the police regarding a sexual assault that took place during a medical examination. Similar allegations by other women soon follow, and the not so good Dr. Mott commits suicide rather than face justice. Why is this important? Because the nanny is really Mrs. Mott, a revenge seeking widow who plans to ruin the lives of Claire, husband Michael (Matt McCoy), and daughter Emma (Madeline Zima). And since Mott suffered a miscarriage after the trauma, she also sees herself as the true mother of baby Joey.
Claire and Michael – like so many movie families – don’t do a thorough background check, though Peyton – as she now calls herself – is charmingly sweet. One person who does suspect the villainess from the beginning is Solomon (Ernie Hudson), a mentally disabled handyman who one suspects might have a short life expectancy with Peyton around.
The first two thirds of the movie is slow going, with the psychotic nanny undermining family relationships and playing people against each other. Peyton wanders the house at night and breast feeds Joey, which leads to unusual behaviour that Claire can’t understand. The villainess develops a false friendship with Emma, lets her watch horror movies in secret, and uses her alone time to manipulate the young girl.
For those eager for some action, Peyton does threaten a child who bullies Emma, managing to scare the child witless. The villainess also steals a document from Claire’s handbag to undermine Michael’s standing with his employer. Rather than simply throw the paperwork away, she rips it up in a toilet cubicle and smashes the walls with a plunger. That rage is building up, ready to be unleashed, and this is one film where the climax is not disappointing.
Villainess
Peyton / Mrs. Mott (Rebecca De Mornay)
What makes the villainess more effective than most in movies of this type are her patience and clever psychological manipulations. There are no sudden unexplained murders until late on, and thus not many reasons for the Martels to be suspicious. Peyton has private discussions with several characters, allowing her to twist facts and plant the seeds of doubt. For instance, she suggests Emma keep their movie watching secret and uses this to convince Claire her daughter is hiding something far more sinister. The villainess also meets Michael to arrange a surprise party, doing so at unusual times and locations. Then all she has to do is plant evidence to insinuate an affair between Michael and family friend Marlene (Julianne Moore).
The villainess is forced to take more direct action when Solomon sees her breast feed while cleaning an upstairs window. Peyton threatens him into silence, and mocks his mental condition just to remind us she’s evil on the inside. But this is simply a tactic to buy time while she figures out a more permanent solution. Surprisingly, this doesn’t involve murder. Instead Peyton plants Emma’s underwear in Solomon’s cart and tells Claire he’s been acting inappropriately, which is enough to frame him for child molestation.
Now alone with the family, Peyton overhears Claire suggest she and Michael go on vacation to smooth things over. Deciding to be more proactive, the villainess arranges a trap in the garden greenhouse so that entering will cause the swinging glass roof panels to suddenly close and shatter. The deadly setup is intended for Claire when she returns home, but Marlene discovers some wind chimes are from Mrs. Mott’s former house now due for foreclosure. So naturally she does the stupid movie thing and confronts the villainess directly, which leads to her becoming the victim of raining glass shards.
Figuring that when Claire discovers Marlene’s bloody body she’ll have an asthma attack, the villainess sabotages every inhaler in the house and takes the baby out for a stroll. Peyton’s off the cuff plan almost works, but paramedics arrive in time to save Claire. After a lengthy stay in hospital, the now suspicious heroine follows up a note from Marlene that leads her to the former Mott residence. Upon seeing the decor that matches her own baby’s room, Claire knows who the nanny really is, but finding a breast pump proves it.
Michael and Claire fire Peyton and plan to move way, but no psycho villainess of any merit would be dealt with so easily. The crazed widow returns to the Martel household and attacks Michael, essentially ruling him out of the prolonged chase that follows. Emma outsmarts the villainess and manages to protect Joey by using the baby monitor as a distraction, eventually leading to a final confrontation in the attic. Fortunately Solomon has been watching Emma since his dismissal and is now on hand to help the family.
Before the poker wielding Peyton can snatch Joey away from Solomon, Claire comes upstairs armed with a kitchen knife. It’s makeshift weapon struggle time, but not that long before Claire is on the floor out of breath. Peyton taunts her, but Claire – who faked the attack – surprises the villainess when she turns to deal with Solomon. After a failed attempt to knock Peyton out, Claire rushes her. This sends the villainess flying through the window – which proves to be a fatal fall when she’s impaled on a picket fence.
Video Review
Honourable Mentions (Unranked)
The Sitter (2007) – Abigail Reed (Mariana Klaveno)
One of many “psycho nanny” clones, this formulaic thriller does have a couple of plus points. The director is Russell Mulcahy – whose credits include Highlander (1986) and The Real McCoy (1993) – so there are some well-shot scenes and stunt sequences are superior to most TV movies. And secondly, there’s the performance by Mariana Klaveno that brings a threatening presence to the movie. It’s just as well, because the story is strictly by the numbers.
A nanny with a traumatic childhood gets herself hired by Carter and Meghan Eastman (William R. Moses and Gail O’Grady), and ultimately plans to dispose of the wife to have hubby all to herself. The motive is left mysterious until the very end, but ultimately it’s lackustre and involves falling in love with Carter when he worked as an attorney on her abusive mother’s trial. Hardly riveting, which sadly goes for much of the film, so it’s up to Klaveno to stare insanely and act over the top to keep up the tension.
There are some standout psycho moments, such as when Abby threatens a school bully (straight out of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle guidebook) or does a striptease to seduce the neighbour’s teenage son just for the hell of it. Victims are obvious the moment they walk on screen. Carter’s business partner gets a shovel in the neck after he comes onto Abby at a house party, but at least the villainess stages a car accident to avert suspicion. The aforementioned nosy neighbour receives a late night visit and a stereo in her bathtub, and the best friend is obviously there to give us one final kill before Abby reveals her true intentions to the family.
The last murder is well done for the genre, and has the psycho suffocate her victim with a plastic bag then snap her neck. After that, the viewer expects a showdown and perhaps a catfight, but Abby is finished off very easily with a pair of scissors. Restrictions on TV movie runtime seem to have resulted in a rushed and unsatisfying wrap up. Abby returns from the dead for a final scare, only to get stabbed again and collapse on the stairs. Then the credits roll and… that’s it.
Devious Nanny (2018) (aka The Nanny Betrayal) – Elise (Michelle Borth)
A brief honourable mention for this twisty variation on a tired theme, the story starts out on a familiar path when a loving couple hire a nanny called Amber (Olesya Rulin), who turns out to have a mysterious past. But that’s a red herring because the wife Elise is the woman responsible for the recent murder spree.
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Everything is included: the setup, characters, key plot developments, and yes… even the final act plot twist that reveals the true murderess and her bizarre motive. Killing people is justified to keep a family together, apparently.
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