The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

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Summary: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World!!!
Review: "The hand that rocks the cradle" from 1992 and by Hollywood pictures was a great movie. i remembered it did create a buzz when it came out. the performances were good, but what really got it attention was this vile and almost mesmerizing character of peyton flanders (rebecca mornay). an over the edge psycho who wants to get revenge on one family because of a miscarriage she suffered over the fact that her husband , dr. mott (john de lancie) has been found guilty of sexually foundling his own patients.

Of course dr. mott has dr. mott has had a long history of doing this and his wife knows about it. however his dark secret is exposed by claire bartel (annabella sciorra) who while pregnant gets some unwanted sexually advances by the good old dr.

Bartel then is pointed as the first woman to come out as one of the dr. victim's and this causes a domino effect where other victims come of the closet to talk about the dr. the dr's games are over , however he can't deal with the fact that he has been exposed and going to prison, so he commits suicide (via a gunshot).

Peyton (mornay) loses their baby in the process and when she finds out miss bartel was the first victim to speak out she does what any typical psycho would do, she targets her for her revenge. the expression "hell on wheels" definitely applies here. Peyton's character is quite a sight for sore eyes, i haven't seen a psychotic character like this since glenn close's alex character in fatal attraction.

However, peyton doesn't launch an obvious assault on claire. no she's schemes to get into the family and then killing clare by posing as a nanny for hire in the family.

She then sets up the situation to get hired by making it look like the baby of the Bartel's is choking and thus saving her life. Pathetic. However the Bartels, Clare and Michael (Matt Mccoy) laughingly fall for the lies of Peyton despite the fact that she isn't whom she claims to be but then again the Bartel family is such a naive family that they are easily pluckings for Peyton's revenge.

For instance, Peyton is hired to be the "nanny" even though, she admits she wasn't sent by a nanny agency , she doesn't have clear cut references, and Marlena Craven (Clare's friend) doesn't like her one bit.

That about sums the movie itself in a way. It seems several characters are either too dumb or too naive to see what's going and this in turn leads to the disastrous things that happen at the hands of Peyton.

For example it seems that Clare has a sort of asthma problem and she must take her pills. Well one day, Michael (Matt Mccoy) must turn in an important proposal to his company. Clare volunteers to do it, but when her back is turned, Peyton hides the proposal thus ensuring some problems in the marriage of the Bartels. The stress caused on Clare causes her to have several asthma attacks yet she doesn't see that Peyton is responsible despite the warnings from Marlena or the obvious advances Peyton is making toward Michael. Yes that's right Peyton ever the home-wrecker tries to make sexual advances toward this gullible guy to break up the family.

Add further insult the other person who doesn't believe Peyton's nanny character is who she claims is Solomon (Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters and Oz). Solomon is a black man who is mentally challenged, yet despite this Solomon has the intelligence to realize Peyton is a psycho. However, Peyton before Solomon has a chance to discuss his suspicions of her, gets rid of Solomon, thus leaving the Bartel family once again an easy target for her.

LOL I made it sound like a soap opera. But all kidding aside "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is a very intense psychological thriller. Probably the best that came after Fatal Attraction and was then followed by another thriller about a psycho woman in "Single White Female" with Bridget Fonda.

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Summary: The 90's Classic Thriller About An Evil Babysitter
Review: 1992: I was too young to fully appreciate this film when it was first released. At this time in the early 90's, shocking thrillers of suspense dealing with the base instincts of humans for murder and revenge were very popular (Silence Of The Lambs won Best Picture) and the ever popular femme fatale- such as Sharon Stone's portrayal in Basic Instinct. Rebecca De Mornay rose to movie stardom at this time with her performance as Peyton, a vengeful and scheming baby-sitter. Rebecca De Mornay grew up in Europe although she was born in America - her father was the radical conservative talk show host Wally George whose show was popular in independent stations in the 80's and early 90's and who died recently. Opposite De Mornay is Annabella Sciorra, who plays the asthma-ridden but brave and good mother Claire, who has the seemingly perfect suburban dream life- a devoted husband, a daughter and a baby.

After it's been revealed that Claire's obstritician has sexually molested her, he commits suicide rathe than being put in jail. This triggers the consuming obscession for revenge in his widow, Peyton. Peyton takes a job as babysitter for Claire's baby and daughter Emma (played, it seems, by the child actress in Matilda).

Although Peyton comes off as innocent, helpful and utterly harmless, she slowly works her revenge over Claire and her family. She is breastfeeding Claire's baby without her knowledge, winning Emma's affection, gets rid of the African American help who knows too much, and even tries to seduce Claire's husband. The subtle way in which she does her evil is very frightening but the intensity grows most abundantly in the final portions of the film. This is a well-done movie, in almost Hitchcock psychological horror, and is a great adult film. I must stress that this is adult horror and that kids should not watch it. It would make them twice about their "real" babysitter. Of course, although there are a few bad apple babysitters, not all of them are like Rebecca De Mornay's wicked Peyton.

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Summary: Great film!
Review: Annabella Sciorra's film career was beginning to skyrocket when this film was theatrically released in January 1992. Her previous film credits include THE HARD WAY and CADILLAC MAN. She had a great role in the latter film. In this film,Sciorra is Claire Bartel who is searching for a nanny for her toddler daughter and her(Claire's) infant son. The hired nanny is Peyton Flanders(Rebecca DeMornay) who ends up trying to kill the baby. Peyton is the widow of Claire's physician Dr. Victor Mott. Peyton told Claire when they first met,that Peyton was once pregnant and miscarried around the time Dr. Mott was murdered. That scared her from having more children of her own. Before working for Claire and her engineer husband Michael(Matt McCoy),Peyton worked with one family who will be moving away and she didn't know where she'd go from there. Peyton overheard a conversation amongst a group of mommies,with one of them saying Claire needed a nanny. Ernie Hudson is Solomon,a black maintenance man who is good handling the baby also. Claire accused Dr. Mott of molesting her shortly before his murder. That's another reason why Peyton came along,seeking revenge. Peyton even releases the contents of Claire's breath machine(Claire suffers from asthma). The not-yet-famous Julianne Moore is Marlene Craven,a friend of the Bartels and an ex-girlfriend of Michael's. Marlene goes out of her way to convince Claire that Peyton is "poison". Marlene ends up killed also,by falling window pane glass from the Bartels' greenhouse. There were points sharp enough to fatally stab. There was a scene in the 1990 film GHOST just like that. A guy was killed by falling window pane glass. Peyton "rigged" the greenhouse,planning to kill Claire. Also in another scene,Claire has a surprise birthday party(this was Peyton's idea). After learning that Peyton is "poison",Claire returns to the Bartels' home,punching Peyton out. After Peyton is thrown out,she returns armed and duels with Claire. Claire wins the duel,and Peyton rolls off the Bartels' roof from the attic,onto the ground,destroying the fence also. This film was distributed by Hollywood Pictures,a division of Buena Vista.

Rating:
Summary: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Review: By far, this movie really proves if you can really trust somebody or not. Someone you know and trust may have a dark, deep secret that they are hiding from you. That is what makes this movie scary, shocking, and breath taking. The movie's plot is also very clever.
Claire Bartell has the perfect life and family. Everything goes well until she accuses her doctor of sexually molesting her. The doctor then commits suicide. The doctor's wife, Mrs. Mott, loses a husband and a child. She then wants to seek revenge on Claire Bartell, the one who told on her husband. Mrs. Mott comes into Claire's family as a sweet and innocent nanny, but is she really as trustworthy as she seems? To find out what happens go out and get the movie "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle." Prepare for an edge of your seat thriller!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss It!
Review: Crammed with suspense and fantastic performances (especially by that mildly handicapped gardener), this is a film worth seeing.

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Summary: Deeply unsettling
Review: Every parent's nightmare - placing trust with a complete stranger who may spend more waking hours with your own child than you can give yourself, who then abuses that trust violently. Many of this film's characters are stereotypes (sickly sweet mouse-like mother, nice-guy husband, harmless hired help who is wrongly accused of a wrong-doing, and of course the wolf in sheep's clothing, De Morney's lead character, the psychotic nanny). The most sympathetic character in the film, the giant handyman Soloman, is a modern-day Lennie from Of Mice And Men. It was he who captured my interest and it was his fate, more so than the husband and wife who employed him, that I followed with the greatest interest. Well worth watching - you may guess the eventual outcome but it's a fun ride along the way.

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Summary: Thoroughly mixed bag delivers some chills and thrills
Review: Here's a movie whose premise is often unsettling, but the execution, when it takes off, keeps one's attention through thrills and chills. A doctor commits suicide after malpractice charges. His widow, who has apparently led a "normal" life before that, suddenly turns into a vengeful demon (just why is left unexplained). She targets the woman who first brought abuse charges against her deceased husband, posing as a nanny and moving in with a hidden motive of stealing her baby. The doctor's widow turned vengeful nanny is played by seldom-seen actress Rebecca de Mornay, in a generally commanding performance that could well make us wish to see her act in more movies. She's chilling as the grisly villain but a few of her actions are as unexplained as why she turns vengeful in the first place. At one point, as part of her plot, she destroys an important business letter to her target's husband (and father of the baby she plans to steal). She does so in a "toilet stall", preparing to flush the fragments of the letter. But for mysterious reasons she goes ballistic and seems to try to destroy the "stall" by beating it with a plunger. The mother she targets is played by Annabella Sciorra, who, in typical fashion for her, is part riveting, part exasperating. Her husband, played by Matt McCoy, is a longsuffering doter, exasperatingly longsuffering at times through his wife's travails. Julianne Moore has a supporting role in this movie, made before she had (at least to my knowledge) become anywhere nearly the major actress she is today. Her performance herein is a mixed bag, showing considerable acting potential but not clearly foreshadowing the significant actress she would become. But perhaps the show-stealing role herein is that of a mentally-challenged gardener, played by Ernie Hudson. Too bad movie makers apparently didn't take more note of his performance and recognize him as an actor who should have gone places. Given the right roles, I thought he should be one to eagerly wish to see again and again in the movies. But sadly, everywhere else I've seen him, he's far and away wasted compared to this role. Too bad some riveting performances seem to go so unnoticed.

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Summary: Sick and disturbing realistic thriller
Review: I first watched The Hand That Rocks the Cradle when I was very young. There are some great actors in this movie, such as Rebecca DeMornay, and Ernie Hudson, and Julianne Moore. I rented it a few nights ago, and I felt guilty and disgusted at the very thought of anyone, including myself, being entertined by such a sick film. The acting is fine, but the story is not a made up kind of thing. A story like this happens all the time, not quite as dramatic as the movie, but there are so many sick people out there who manipulate and deceive, and even kill. Rebecca DeMornay plays a sociopathic diabolical deeply disturbed woman seeking revenge on CLaire Bartel, after losing her husband, baby, and home. A sick person seeking revege is not a good mix. You can learn a thing or two from this film. I have learned by own experiences with sociopathic people. Number one is, if a person seems too good to be true, they aren't! No one is perfect and if they seem to be perfect they are definately without a doubt, acting!! If things start to go wrong, bad things, in a pattern, one happening after another, don't ignore it like Claire did. Being naive and blind is opening yourself to the enemy. An easy target is someone who trusts way too fast and opens up way too fast. To hire someone to watch after your kids, never on the third day tell them your life story. Every bit of private information you give them, they can use it against you, if they wanted to. Just like Payton did. There were so many sick things in the movie that made me want to just shut it off. The underwear scene, the greenhouse scene, the perfume on the dress scene, how on earth did she manage to get that far??? Anyone would stop and wonder why such things are happening. Bad luck? No, try a sick twisted person living in your home trying to destroy your life. It's a sick world we live in. That's why nowadays you can do background checks and criminal checks on the people you allow into your house to care for your kids. Always be alert and never ignore your instincts!!!

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Summary: I love this movie!!!
Review: I love seattle, the movies great,and thats some house!!

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Summary: Rebecca De Monay shines!
Review: I quite enjoyed this somewhat "by-the-book" thriller - while rather unrealistic, it manages to hold the audience's attention. Rebecca De Mornay is truly amazing in this film. One of the best performances of the 90's! She holds the film together and never drops the ball. Memorable score by Graeme Revell