By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Ever get more than a bit confused by how certain movies get categorized by streaming services? For example, you click on something with the comedy label and then sit through a movie destined to become your own Vietnam flashback. Case in point: Better Watch Out is often listed as a “horror comedy” and is currently described as a “farce” on Tubi, but anyone streaming this film on that platform needs to brace themselves for some seriously bleak thrills and chills.
Better Watch Out
Better Watch Out begins simply enough, with a babysitter watching over a teenage boy who has the hots for her. But he has no time for love because an apparent intruder has broken into the house and threatened to kill anyone who tries to leave. The babysitter is now in a fight for her life, but all her skills may be useless when she tangles with the last foe she ever expected to face.
The primary cast of Better Watch Out includes some young but talented performers, including Olivia DeGonge (best known for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis) as the babysitter in way over her head. Meanwhile, Levi Miller (best known for A Wrinkle In Time) plays her young charge, a boy who is possibly more than he seems. That young boy’s parents are played by two beloved genre legends: Virginia Madsen and Patrick Warburton (Brock Samson himself!).
Unfortunately, Better Watch Out was a major box office bomb, thanks in part to the film being simultaneously released in theaters and video on demand. Against a budget of $3 million, the film earned a meager box office of only $188,756. Fortunately, though, this movie managed to scare up some surprisingly good reviews among critics.
For example, on Rotten Tomatoes, Better Watch Out has a critical rating of 89 percent. In general, critics praised the talents of the youthful cast and how surprisingly sinister the movie is. Critics also praised this for being a killer holiday horror movie, which is fair…this may be cinematic blasphemy, but I’d most certainly rather watch this film again rather than the go-to Christmas slashics like Black Christmas or Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2.
To really enjoy this film, though, you need to remember something important about Better Watch Out: anyone who tells you that it’s a comedy is straight-up lying to you. Sure, there are a few bleak laughs to be had, but this film is shockingly dark, with surprises that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Speaking of which, this movie is built around a solid plot twist that completely changes the narrative and will certainly affect how you view this movie on the inevitable rewatch (and trust me when I say this one is worth watching again to catch all the little details).
So, will you find Better Watch Out a modern Christmas horror masterpiece like I did, or is this one gift under the streaming tree that you’d like to return to the North Pole? You won’t know until you stream it on Tubi and experience all the twists and turns for yourself. Remember, streaming the film is free, but discovering a creepy new classic to watch every holiday season is priceless.
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