Product Description

Mom's on a trip, leaving her brood in the care of a babysitter, who's just died. Now the kids can have a summer full of fun, or can they?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2031 in DVD
• Brand: HBO HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2000-12-12
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.com
Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead aspires to be a cross between Home Alone and Risky Business, with Christina Applegate as an inadvertent scam artist who gets in over her head and somehow pulls it off. When her mother goes to Australia for two months, Sue Ellen (Applegate) thinks she's going to be in charge--until an elderly tyrant of a babysitter arrives. But on the very first night the old lady has a heart attack and keels over. Sue Ellen and her siblings leave the body at a mortuary, only to discover afterward that all the money their mother had left for the summer was in the babysitter's clothes. So Sue Ellen has to get a job. Thanks to a trumped-up resume, she ends up as an executive assistant at a clothing manufacturer. For a while she keeps her head above water by skillfully exploiting a friendly coworker, but her brothers and sisters are running amok at home and a venomous receptionist has it in for her at work. The role-reversal humor of Sue Ellen having to mother her siblings is unsurprising, but Applegate is unexpectedly appealing; her scenes with Josh Charles (Dead Poet's Society, Threesome) have a sweet chemistry. Joanna Cassidy (Blade Runner, The Laughing Policeman) plays Sue Ellen's boss and a young David Duchovny (The X-Files, The Rapture) is a weaselly clerk. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Christina Applegate is surprisingly good in this cult classic playing Sue Ellen. After the babysitter dies from old age, she finds herself responsible for her four younger brothers and sisters for the entire summer. As much as she hates it, Sue Ellen has to get a job to support them all. When she applies for a receptionist job with a clothing manufacturer, her fabricated resume lands her a job with the chief executive. This is a lighthearted movie with many funny scenes.

Charming and Funny
Thinks are looking up for the Crandell children. Mom (Concetta Tomei, "Deep Impact" and "Picket Fences") is going to Australia for two months. Things seem like they are going to be great until a babysitter shows up. The babysitter seems like a sweet little old lady until mom leaves. The babysitter then turns into a militant, giving the children orders and rules and telling everyone that she will tolerate no infractions.

The children can hardly believe their bad luck. Now they will be stuck with the babysitter from hell. After meeting to discuss their situation, the children elect Sue Ellen (also called Swell, played by Christina Applegate, "Married with Children") to go speak to the old lady. Swell knocks on the old lady's bedroom door and enters when she fails to answer. Swell discovers that one problem was solved, but another created, when she learns that the babysitter is dead.

After another meeting of the children, they decide to take the old lady to a mortuary and drop her off with a note. Unfortunately, the children neglect to remove the money their mother left from the old lady's clothes, as they learn after they return home. Swell and brother Kenny (Keith Coogan, who starred in another classic comedy, "Adventures in Babysitting") decide that one of them has to get a job. A flip of the pizza box and Swell starts looking for a job while brother Kenny hangs around the house and smokes pot.

Swell's first job is at a hotdog place, where she gets the joy of cleaning out the grease pots. Swell decides there has to be a better job she can get, so after a little creative resume writing, she lands a high-paying job as an executive administrative assistant for Rose Lindsay (Joanna Cassidy, "Blade Runner" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). In spite of obstacles placed in her way by a receptionist and her toady, Bruce, played by a David Duchovny before his "X-Files" days, Swell manages to excel in her job, accidentally learning to delegate and even design.

Of course, things are not smooth sailing for working girl Swell. There is the office letch, who keeps trying to become intimate with Swell, not knowing she is only 17 years old. Swell is also trying to have a little romance of her own, with the brother of the receptionist who is trying to back stab Swell at the office. Brother Kenny is more anxious to hang out with his friends than take care of his siblings and the house. To top it all off, mom keeps calling, wondering how things are going and probably wondering why she is unable to speak to the babysitter.

I would limit viewing to children at least 14 years old and above because of the behavior of the children. You may wish to limit viewing to an even older age for some children.

This movie is not only good; it is a funny and enjoyable movie for adults. This movie is probably the best thing Christina Applegate has done to date outside of her continuing role on "Married with Children." A few of the gags fall flat, but the bulk of them work, and Applegate does an excellent job of making you feel sorry for her as her dream summer becomes a nightmare, all the while laughing at the things happening around her. As a light comedy this movie works, and is one that I will watch again.

Enjoy!

One Crazy Summer
What did Christina Applegate do during her 1990 summer hiatus from television's popular series, "Married...with Children"? Well, she made this charming, highly entertaining comedy of a Los Angeles teen that finds herself in a tough predicament one summer. After her mother leaves on a two-month trip to Australia, Sue Ellen (Applegate) finds herself taking care of her four siblings after the mean, elderly babysitter that was hired by their mother for the summer drops dead from natural causes. Unwilling to put a dent to their summer fun, the kids decide to rid the body and take care of themselves for two months without having to tell their mom. Only problem is that when they dropped the body off at the local mortuary, they forgot to check the babysitter's pockets for the money their mother left for groceries for the entire summer.

Determined to keep the fun and food flowing, Sue Ellen decides to look for a job. After not having too much luck at a fast food restaurant, she applies for a receptionist position at a clothing company. When a resume mix-up gets in the way, Sue Ellen becomes a career woman in order to pay the bills and keep their summer alive. Meanwhile, she develops a blossoming relationship with a fast-food worker she once worked with (Josh Charles of "Threesome") and is being hounded by two office workers who want to wreck her reputation (Concetta Tomei & a very, very young-looking David Duchovny of "X-Files fame).

Featuring a great cast of actors such as Joanna Cassidy and Keith Coogan ("Adventures in Babysitting"), "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead" is a grown-up version of "Home Alone" for teens. Amusing, funny, and entertaining, it was Applegate's only feature-film hit. While she made other low-cost films such as "Streets", this film happens to be her best work outside from her work on "Married...With Children.." If you are looking for a great flick for the family this is it. Please be aware that the film contains scenes of drug use (marijuana) and might be unsuitable for children under the age of 13.