12-year-old Luke Lerner's parents are going to a Christmas party, and hire babysitter Ashley to watch him for the night. But it's anything but a "silent night" when a psychopath shows up outside the house to torment them. And that's only the first half-hour of the movie, which takes some strange twists and turns from there.
I definitely don't want to spoil much more if you're a horror fan who might actually want to check this movie out. But I will say... it's not really much of a Christmas movie. The parents in this story could be hiring a babysitter for any night out. There's snow outside and Christmas decorations in the house, but there are hardly any moments where it being Christmastime plays any truly significant role in the plot. (It's why I feel alright posting about this movie now, well after Christmas. You can watch this completely independent of whether you're feeling the Christmas spirit.)
If you're a horror movie fan, you probably should check this one out. I have friends who have seen more of the genre than I have, but I'm pretty sure I've seen more than most people... and Better Watch Out served up something I hadn't seen before. It wasn't "blow your mind" wonderful, but I thought it enough for the jaded to sit up and take notice.
And while this is rarely the case for a horror movie, the main reason to watch is for the performances. Well, one in particular, by young Levi Miller in the role of Luke. The movie asks him to take some big swings; indeed, the whole thing pretty well hinges on him. And he pulls it off.
In the grand scheme of things? Better Watch Out probably only rates something like a B-. But I found it an enjoyable B-, and fans of the horror genre in general (and the slasher subgenre in particular) may well like it even more than that.
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