Movie

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

A story recycled dozens of times: a nanny with ulterior motives worms her way into an overly trusting suburban family. This will surely sound familiar, but a strong actress can elevate a film above the mediocre competition, and Rebecca De Mornay delivers the goods as the scheming Peyton Flanders.

Before she employs the nanny from hell, Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) reports a sexual assault during a medical examination. More allegations by other women follow, and the not so good Dr Mott commits suicide to avoid facing justice. Why is this important? Because the nanny is Mrs Mott, a revenge-seeking widow out to ruin the lives of Claire, her husband Michael (Matt McCoy), and her daughter Emma (Madeline Zima). And since Mott had a miscarriage, she sees herself as the true mother of baby Joey.

Like many movie families, Claire and Michael don’t do a background check, though Peyton – as she now calls herself – is charmingly sweet. One person the villainess doesn’t fool is Solomon (Ernie Hudson), a mentally ill handyman whose curiosity might shorten his life expectancy.

The first two acts are 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 odd behaviour that Claire can’t understand. The villainess develops a false friendship with Emma, lets her watch horror movies in secret, and uses their alone time to manipulate the young girl.

Peyton threatens a child who bullies Emma, scaring him witless. The villainess also steals a document from Claire’s handbag to undermine Michael’s standing with his employer. Rather than simply throwing the paperwork away, she rips it up and smashes a toilet cubicle with a plunger. The rage is building, ready to be unleashed, and this is one film where the climax is not disappointing.

Villainess

Peyton / Mrs. Mott (Rebecca De Mornay)

The villainess is more effective than most copycats. There are no suspicious deaths until late on, and few reasons for the Martels to be wary. Peyton is a conniving woman who twists facts and plants seeds of doubt. She tells Emma to keep their movie watching secret and convinces Claire that her daughter is hiding something more sinister. The villainess arranges a surprise party and meets Michael at unusual times and locations. Then she plants evidence to insinuate an affair with family friend Marlene (Julianne Moore).

Peyton’s plan unravels when Solomon sees her breast feed while cleaning an upstairs window. She threatens him into silence and mocks his mental condition just to remind us she’s evil. This is a tactic to buy time while she figures out a more permanent solution. Surprisingly, this doesn’t involve murder. Peyton plants Emma’s underwear in Solomon’s cart and tells Claire he’s been acting strangely, which is enough to frame him for child molestation.

Alone with the family, Peyton overhears Claire suggest a holiday to smooth things over with Michael. The villainess sets a trap in the garden greenhouse so that entering will cause the swinging glass roof panels to shatter. Her deadly setup is intended for Claire, but Marlene discovers the wind chimes are from Mrs Mott’s former house. The stupid friend confronts the nanny and dies by raining glass shards.

Expecting Claire to have an asthma attack when she discovers the body, the villainess sabotages every inhaler in the house and takes the baby out for a stroll. The plan almost works, but paramedics arrive in time. After a lengthy stay in hospital, the suspicious heroine follows up a note from Marlene, a clue that leads her to the old Mott residence. When she realises the decor matches her baby’s room, Claire deduces the nanny’s true identity, and finding a breast pump confirms it.

Michael and Claire fire Peyton, but no psycho villainess of merit is dealt with so easily. The crazed widow returns and attacks Michael, ruling him out of the chase that follows. Emma outsmarts the killer and protects Joey by using the baby monitor as a distraction, which leads to an attic confrontation. Fortunately, Solomon has been watching Emma and is on site to help the family.

Before the poker-wielding Peyton can snatch Joey, Claire comes upstairs armed with a kitchen knife. It’s a makeshift weapon duel, and soon the asthmatic is on the floor and out of breath. Peyton taunts her, but Claire – who faked the attack – surprises the psycho when she turns to deal with Solomon. The rush attack sends the villainess flying through the window… onto a picket fence below.

Honourable Mentions: Psycho Nannies

The Sitter (2007) – Abigail Reed (Mariana Klaveno)

One of many psycho-nanny clones, this formulaic thriller has a couple of plus points. The director is Russell Mulcahy, whose credits include Highlander (1986) and The Real McCoy (1993), so the action scenes are well shot with stunt sequences superior to most TV movies. And the performance by Mariana Klaveno brings a threatening presence. Just as well, because the story is strictly by the numbers.

A nanny with a traumatic past is hired by Carter and Meghan Eastman (William R. Moses and Gail O’Grady). Except she plans to dispose of the wife to have the man all to herself. Her motive is a mystery until the end, but ultimately it’s lacklustre. Abigail fell in love with Carter when he worked as an attorney on her abusive mother’s trial. Hardly riveting, so it’s left to Klaveno to stare insanely and act over the top to maintain the tension.

Standout psycho moments include Abby threatening a school bully and 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 flirts with Abby at a house party. The nosy neighbour gets a late-night visit and a stereo in her bathtub, and the best friend exists for one last kill before Abby reveals her true intentions.

That murder is well done for the genre. The psycho suffocates her victim with a plastic bag and snaps her neck. After that, the viewer expects a showdown and perhaps a catfight, but Abby is killed easily with a pair of scissors. Restrictions on TV movie runtime may have resulted in a rushed and unsatisfying wrap-up. Abby returns from near death, 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.

Sourcing Lifetime movies in the UK can be difficult, and those that are shown on afternoon TV are usually edited for content. Fortunately, there’s always Marvista Entertainment whose spoiler-heavy trailers often sum up the entire movie, reducing 90 minutes to 90 seconds. The official trailer is no longer available on the official site, but can be found on YouTube or video archives.

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.