A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting: A kid-friendly Halloween movie

Is A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting worth a watch?

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting is a Halloween tween comedy about a secret society of babysitters who fight magical villains. The story introduces us to Kelly Ferguson (Tamara Smart), a girl nicknamed “Monster Kid” at school. Kids tease her because she claimed to have been attacked by a monster when she was five years old.

On Halloween, Kelly’s mom volunteers her to babysit a young boy named Jacob (Ian Ho). Jacob’s mom, Mrs. Zellman (Tamsen McDonough), gives Kelly a long list of rules to follow and states that it takes three hours to get Jacob to sleep.

Once Jacob’s mom leaves for a Halloween party, Jacob reveals that he has nightmares about monsters. Kelly understands better than most because she had similar nightmares at a young age. Shortly after putting Jacob to sleep, Kelly watches him get kidnapped by a few monsters. She frantically calls the police, who don’t believe her story. Thankfully, another babysitter, Liz Lerue (Oona Laurence), arrives to save the day and help Kelly find Jacob.

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting is a kid-friendly Halloween movie to watch with your family this season. The visual effects are fun and spooky at times but not too scary for a young audience. The monsters range from colorful and quirky to dark and mysterious.

Tom Felton is the villain

The villain, Grand Guignol (Tom Felton), is an over the top Mick Jagger-inspired boogeyman. He’s not necessarily scary or campy. He wants to use Jacob to bring a nightmare army to the real world. The scene where he is trying to get Jacob to sleep was entertaining, and I’m sure many parents and babysitters can relate.

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting is based on a series of books, so they most likely have a franchise in mind. The ending has a set up for a second film involving a new villain, Serena the Spider Queen. A Babysitter’s Guide is a decent Halloween movie to watch with your family, but unless you have tweens or younger kids, then I would probably find something else to watch on Netflix.

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting is now streaming on Netflix.