Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

If you grew up in the ‘90s, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead is a must-have addition to your movie collection. I bought the DVD to relive a favorite from my teenage years, and it did not disappoint! The picture and sound quality are great for a movie of its age, and the disc loaded smoothly with no issues. The film itself is the perfect mix of comedy, chaos, and heartfelt moments. Christina Applegate shines as Sue Ellen—trying to hold her family together while pretending to be an adult in the real world. The humor still holds up, and the memorable one-liners (“I’m right on top of that, Rose!”) never fail to make me smile. Whether you’re watching it for the first time or revisiting it for nostalgia, this DVD delivers. Great value, solid quality, and guaranteed laughs. Highly recommend for anyone who loves classic 90s comedies!

Great movie, fast shipping and good price

What is a great film? Something that is truly timeless, or something which is a classic of its genre? Obviously, no-one's pretending "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" is a great film (no great film has a title of more than three words. Think about it) but nonetheless, one does get to see how a film handles its composition of several genres rather than one. It's the best strategy towards greatness, and I hope to see this attempted more frequently. "Don't Tell Mom..." is at an interesting cultural crossroads. It's basically the last of the Eighties high-concept comedies: the same broad category as films like Big and Crocodile Dundee, where the whole film comes from the pitch. However, we get to see shades of Wayne's World-esquire Generation X teen movie, especially in the character of Rob, and unfortunately the short-lived genre of 'kids acting in grown-up situations and delivering ever-so-amusing grownup lines.' John Hughes was the master of this style of film-making, and there's definitely shades of his work in here, most noticeably the setting of a film largely within a family house. First of all - the pitch. Kids left at home for summer with babysitter. Babysitter dies and kids must fend for themselves with as few people let in on the secret as possible. From this moment on, the film was always going to go about the format of throwing its naive, brattish teenagers in the real world at the deep end and extracting as much amusement as possible from their sinking-or-swimming. The screenplay starts to thin at this point. Of the five kids in the house, only two are feasibly old enough to work, or indeed to learn any sort of life lesson throughout this experience. The plot then follows Sue Ellen as she stumbles her way into a job and up the corporate ladder (the script is devoid of jokes at this point, but I kept watching because Christina Applegate is a surprisingly good actress.) Everything from this point is a misjudgment - it's virtually scrawled across the screen that Sue Ellen is getting some life lessons and becoming a young adult. The film could have done without the 'boyfriend' storyline though - it's without doubt the saggiest part of the film. More interesting is the Kenny storyline. Younger brother Kenny goes from being a hopeless layabout stoner with no inkling to as what he wants to do in life to a man with a plan. Lack of screen time prohibits us from truly understanding why, but we do get an insight into the film's message - the real world is about sacrifice. Kenny must throw away his carefree existence if he wants to become a man. Sure, this film has faults like pearls on a string - the annoying smaller children who eat up screen time and contribute nothing but an unbearable cuteness (and they're not even that cute: they steal money from their mom's purse - twice.) Sue Ellen's corporate life is shown as patronizingly simple, but that's a fault of all movies in general, you can't have clever successful people as the heroes because the audience feels intimidated. The other major fault I'm going to point out is the chronic lack of laughs. About the biggest giggle was David Duchovny's horrendous yellow shirt. But "Don't Tell Mom," much like its characters, has an innocent, naive charm about it, and if you can put aside your critical mauling instinct, it won't be the worst two hours of your celluloid life.

Great movie all the way through

Granddaughter enjoyed

Such a classic! It was a great price, and great to add to collection.

If you like Christina applegate you will like this movie.

Loved this comedy, although it was very realistic with brother & sister fighting, & a typical chaotic family life.

Great movie and quality

I love this movie. There, I said it. I first saw this at a friend's house when I was about 12, and I instantly fell in love with it - Sue Ellen's clothes, Melissa's ballsy attitude, Kenny and his complete turnaround, Brian, the clown dog driver...it was fantastic. Sue Ellen Krandall (Christina Applegate) is looking forward to spending a Mom-free summer at the beach when her mother announces that she's going to Australia for a long vacation. Right before her Mom leaves, Sue-Ellen's plans come crashing down around her with the arrival of Mrs. Sterac, the ancient, Uber-strict babysitter. Things aren't looking good----until the babysitter dies, taking with her the money Mrs. Krandall left for the upkeep of the house. Sue-Ellen quickly realises that in order to take care of herself and her siblings (stoner Kenny, love-sick Zack, mischevious Walter, and tomboy Melissa), she has to get a job, and as a 17-year old with no qualifications, what can she do? Fake it, that's what. She blags her way into a wonderful job at a clothing company, and quickly finds her feet as a personal assistant. The novelty of being a "working woman" soon wears off as Sue Ellen realises that it's not easy being a career woman and a "Mom" at the same time. I recently bought this DVD and I was a little dubious about watching it at the age of 26 - would it be as good as I remembered? I wasn't disappointed. It's one of the few early 90's movies that has stood the test of time- the gags are as funny now as they were back then, Christina Applegate's Sue Ellen Krandall is still one of the most likeable leads in a family movie EVER, and the supporting cast of brothers and sisters are just as funny. If you haven't seen it, buy it now. It's a little gem.

I haven't seen this movie in so long. Christina Applegate is to Awesome in this move. So good.

Arrived on time. I this film, seen it three times. I was glad find it on DVD. It’s a classic comedy film, from the early 90s.

Had this on VHS and had to upgrade to DVD. Funny comedy with Christina Applegate, classic 90s teenage film from a bygone time when writers were creative and Hollywood made fun easy going movies for the cinema and not straight to streaming services!