Caretaker, The (2016)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Sondra Blake, Meegan Warner, Sean Martini
Directed by Jeff Prugh
One of the more heartbreaking (and stressful) situations one can be put into is taking care of a loved one when they’re at the end stages of their life. Around-the-clock care can not only be taxing to the wallet, but to the emotional psyche as well, and if that loved one has not only gone off the rails, sanity-wise, what if that particular person held a secret so close that it threatened others’ safety? Don’t even get me started on the whole paranormal issue to boot, either!
Director Jeff Prugh brings us his latest, The Caretaker, and at the risk of sounding like a heartless bastard (which I’ve been accused of), the FIRST time I encountered the issues that occur in this movie, my dear ol’ relative would have been shipped off to a nursing home – now that’s not to say I wouldn’t be up to the challenge of providing for them, but what follows behind said relative is just a bit much more than I’m willing to negotiate with. Sondra Blake leads the pack here as the cantankerous Birdy (appropriately enough, cause this fusspot has flown the coop). Her eerily odd and irascible ways have driven off more than one caretaker, and now it’s up to her granddaughter Mallorie (Warner) to step in and take the reins…best of luck to ya, young one. So Mallorie and her fella (Martini) move into the house that Mallorie grew up in since the age of four when her Mom went missing, and was raised by a semi-sane Birdy – notice how I said “semi-Sane?” Yep, not quite sure if the Bird-lady has ever had both oars rowing at the same time, but that’s an issue that’s way down the road by now.
Troubles are not very far off for the young couple when some very juicy secrets begin to drum up, and Birdy’s already sketchy past comes into play, serving up more than a few very creepy instances – come on, I’m not gonna throw the entire game for ya now! The film does have more than a few worthwhile jump-scares, and is fairly well put together, and aside from some slow-burning that chews up a fair share of the runtime, this is overall a decent chiller to check out. Blake absolutely shines like a star in her role of the out-to-lunch Birdy, more than often creeping me the hell out with her blank stares and at times, frightening displays of dementia…or is she just fooling us all, including her granddaughter? The film doesn’t exactly cover all the bases when laying down the scares, with some missed opportunities, but still manages to convey a spooky tale that spans more than one lifetime, and I’m ultimately glad to say that Prugh has given the audience a decent flick to check out this Halloween season.
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Film
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