DON'T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER'S DEAD (1991)

Cast

Plot

This isn't just another teen movie. Mom is notable for her absence, packed off for two months to Australia, leaving five troublesome kids, dream girl 17-year-old Sue 'Swell' Ellen (Christina Applegate), her brothers Kenny, Zach and Walter, 6-year-old Melissa and a ghastly ogre of a little old lady who is clearly some sort of serial babysitter. 'TV rots your brain' she wheezes menacingly, before Kenny's satanic bedroom brings on a coronary. Once the 'sitter' has snuffed it, the kids opt to fend for themselves and elect Swell as the breadwinner. So far, so predictable, but this is a sassy little comedy of wit and intelligence from the director of 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'. Applegate is appealing and resourceful, while Coogan's dope-head, Kenny, contributes to a wonderfully dry, on-going marital spoof. Getz is an unctuous boardroom chauvinist to a tee and Cassidy rounds off the picture's relaxed Cosmo-feminism as Swell's scatty boss. Excellent comedy.