The Guardian (1990)

As the 80’s made way for the 90’s the new decade spawned movies about abuse of trust, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, and Deceived being prime examples. From absolutely nowhere came The Guardian a movie directed by William Freidkin the man that bought us The Exorcist. Teaming up with Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch, Gothic) as writer, Friedkin again gives us a no nonsense smack in the face horror movie, with a savage edge.

Moving into their dream home Kate and Phil soon have a new visitor on the way, a guest that will be staying for more than a few days. The pregnancy goes by quickly and without issue, the birth speedy; but finances mean that Kate will soon have to return to work in order to keep their dream home. Selecting a nanny for their child is easy, despite all the nanny’s they see Arlene is head and shoulders above all others, but her sudden death means they turn to second option Camilla (Jenny Seagrove). Camilla tends to baby Jake’s needs well, but despite her polished outlook, she hides something secret, something deadly.

Anyone expecting something along the lines of The Exorcist is surely to be disappointed with The Guardian; The Exorcist is a dark and dirty horror movie, its delivery is rough and sometimes incoherent, its very real, lots of normal conversation and acting that seems like you’ve just walked in on a friends conversation. The Guardian is a much more polished piece of work, far more Hollywood than cutting edge; it’s almost TV quality style acting, with a level of cleanliness and an unlived feel about it. In fact you’d need telling to take a double take, and maybe to be old twice in order to believe that this is the work of the same director, both movies being light years apart. This being said The Guardian is pretty good on a completely different level.

For actress Jenny Seagrove this must have been a dream job, the actress repeatedly pigeonholed into the same sort of acting roles, the servant, the downtrodden, and the woman of substance. Now she had the real power an opportunity to shine, and to deliver a pleasant but terrifying role. Sadly despite her great performance here, the movie was little seen and her chance at fame in America dashed.

The character of Camilla (Seagrove) is far more than just a normal woman with a nasty side; she is a creature of some sort, connected closely to a tree. Her aim is to collect babies before they reach the four-month stage, and effectively sacrifice them to a tree. Anything that tries to stop this is met with ultimate resistance.

When you sit someone down in an almost TV movie style environment and chuck in the kitchen sink when it is completely unexpected you have to take a deep breath. The first thirty minutes of watching The Guardian and you think you’re seeing a movie that will play out in a certain way. Around the forty minute mark suddenly you are thrown this enormous curve-ball, I was completely taken aback by a scene involving Camilla and three thugs, who are disposed of in a fairly graphic manner, the deaths themselves are not unexpected, it’s the sheer brutality that it.

I never read Stephen Volk’s original treatment of the story, but I have to say it does seem that the film is a little hollow in a number of places, it’s not a well thrown together story, it works, but its far from rocket science, it simply just is what it is, a bit of mindless horror to pass the time, enjoyable in a lot of ways; but you’ll not be worrying about it after it ends.

Friedkin has made a number of films that have a cutting edge style about them, this does not by any means equal previous work, nor does it redesign the wheel, but it is an unexpected pleasure to watch, and a movie you’ll remember.