Evil Nanny (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

Evil Nanny: A Gripping Thriller with Unpredictable Twists and Mixed Performances

[guy-60639 · 6/10 · 18 January 2024]

Evil Nanny immerses audiences in a tense and unpredictable thriller that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. The film's strength lies in its ability to deliver unexpected twists, maintaining a suspenseful atmosphere from start to finish. The lead actresses deliver standout performances, skillfully embodying the characters and adding depth to the gripping plot.

The narrative unfolds with a series of suspenseful events, each twist more unexpected than the last. The film successfully plays with the audience's expectations, creating a chilling experience that is sure to leave a lasting impression. The cinematography and soundtrack contribute to the overall atmosphere, enhancing the tension and amplifying the suspenseful moments.

While the lead actresses shine, some supporting performances fall short of expectations. Despite the occasional lapses in supporting roles, the strong chemistry and convincing portrayals of the main cast manage to anchor the storyline. The director's ability to balance these elements keeps the audience engaged and invested in the unfolding mystery.

Evil Nanny serves as a testament to the effectiveness of a well-executed thriller. It doesn't rely solely on jump scares but instead crafts a narrative that captivates with its intricate plot and unforeseen turns. The film successfully explores the darker side of human nature, making it a compelling watch for fans of the genre.

In conclusion, Evil Nanny stands out as a gripping thriller with a penchant for the unexpected. While the lead actresses carry the film with their compelling performances, some supporting roles could have added more depth. Nevertheless, the film delivers an intense and suspenseful experience, making it a noteworthy addition to the thriller genre.

Not worth watching

[sandraw588 · 6/10 · 28 June 2019]

A couple hires a nanny and one day decide to fire her, but because she has made their house her home adress, they can't made her leave...they give her a eviction notice, but they found themselves in court, the father loses a job...they search a way to make the police see she is a bad person, but it backfires. The court make a decision against the couple. The nanny made the police think she died in a car accident. The ending was better than I thought.

Unloved From the Start

[lavatch · 5/10 · 20 August 2020]

As an orphan, Alexa Dodge was given up as a ward of the state and passed around to different foster homes. While she never knew the full story of why her mother surrendered her, she always felt unloved. As a young woman, she rebelled against authority with the most extreme form of violence: arson and homicide. The blaze that Alexa set to the Saint Mary's Home for Wayward Girls took six lives. Booted out of the facility, Alexa changed her name to Jennifer (Jen) Russell and took a job as the nanny from hell.

Jen is hired by a nice couple, Tim and Fay Wells. But their lives are immediately disrupted by the new nanny, who remains in the home as a squatter after they have fired her and asked her to leave. Jen makes the lives of her hosts miserable and milks the legal system to stay in the home. She takes a lover named Wade who is a thug and drug dealer, and she makes use of an admiring neighbor boy, Kyle, to hack into the Wells' personal computers. Even the Wells' little boy Allan takes a liking to the nanny and scolds his father, "Stop being so mean to JenJen!"

While evidently based on a true story, it was shocking to believe the moment-to-moment realities of the sadistic treatment of the family by Jen and that they became prisoners in their own home. Even worse was the fate of poor Wren Roullen, who was the roommate of "Alexa" while at the St. Mary's foster home. Wren dies while Jen is at the wheel of a stolen car with a kidnapped Kyle locked in the trunk. It was difficult to comprehend why the police and the legal system were so lax in the case. The Wells' attorney, Ken Alden, was hopeless.

The most interesting character in the film was Fay Wells, a library archivist, whose work was fascinating. She used her research skills to learn the background of Alexa. The most moving moment comes when Fay shows empathy for a lost soul. She promises to send Alexa a copy of the article that tells the true story of her mother. This was a compassionate gesture toward the inner child of Alexa that felt unloved from the start.

Seriously?

[haroot_azarian · 6 June 2021]

Apparently cops in America are good at killing people at routine traffic stops in total justifiable causes, but when it comes to domestic civil disputes i.e. Landlord and tenant, their hands are totally ties. This movie is so ridiculous I do not know how on earth anyone agreed to making it!

So this psycho, arsonist-murderer, worms her way into the lives of the couple as their children's nanny. It is beyond belief how law savvy she turns out to be at such a young age and a dysfunctional background. Then we have their lawyer who is as useless as nipples on men. I could go on an on about how ridiculous the plot is, suffice to say those who liked this movie must have been on some serious good stuff.

Psycho brings in a drug dealing thug, throws wild parties and the couple cannot do anything because the law in the state is strongly in favour of the tenant? Really? If this is really the case I thank God every day for not being born an American, for that and dozens of other reasons!

And what was with the ending? After all psycho did to the couple, the woman shows compassion and pity towards her at the end? Nuts!!!!!

Ok so I am not familiar with Federal and State laws (thank God) but I find the plot absolutely ridiculous! I mean come on, based on a true story? Really? In my country the law is on the landlord's side!

Absolutely terrible and unbelievable plot...

[ckmajik · 1/10 · 18 September 2017]

Zero stars out of 10, at best. This film has the most ridiculous story I have ever seen. There is no point in even getting into how bad the acting or the directing is, because the story-line is just terrible! A troubled 20-something girl forges her identity to get a job as a live-in nanny for a couple with 2 young children. She proceeds to screw up and put the children at harm, causing the parents to fire the nanny and kick her out of their house. The complete trash that follows is an utterly unbelievable series of events that I have a hard time anyone with an ounce of common sense would believe. The nanny manages to find every loophole possible to keep from being evicted from the couples' home. She makes the homeowners' lives a living hell as they are forced to deal with everything the nanny does to terrorize them. The couple tries to get the police involved several times, but they are of no help. In fact, this film does a fantastic job of making law enforcement look like a complete joke, devoid of any skill necessary to do their job properly.

In my opinion, it is criminal that someone could make and distribute this garbage for people to waste their time on. Please heed my warning and DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!!! I've seen bad films with ridiculous story lines, but this takes the cake. If you do decide to watch it, I'm sorry. And if the first 85 minutes of the film doesn't make you scream in frustration, the final 5 minutes will.

every second = wasted time !

[joshistirgendwieschwul · 1/10 · 18 May 2017]

Lately also IMDb is more and more infected by abusive reviews. They are just written to upgrade the rating and hide the awfulness of movies. They will give you false hope that you are gonna enjoy the movie. Evil Nanny is one of those bad and falsely upgraded flicks. Every aspect of making a movie is far beyond any quality. Here the whole main cast has a level of kindergarten. It's unlikely each of them will ever get the status of real actor/actress. The story is of the same low level, no thrill at all and above all: really UNbelievable and most boring! So i'm very sorry to spoil viewers' expectations but please be honest to yourself and don't let you torture your feelings. Avoid this Evil Movie. Go watch any other. And learn this lesson here: whenever you are in the need of a nanny, first check 100% of her/his background and all references. Therefore 1/10 instead of zero points for Evil Nanny. One of the baddest movies ever made...

Like a Mexican soap opera...

[rafahoracio · 2/10 · 20 May 2017]

As a TV movie is may not be bad. Specially if you cannot put 100% attention to it. The overall story is appealing, but it feels so unreal in most parts. Some performances are really bad, like those from the cops. They may also be the result of a bad direction. The story has potential but it looks to exaggerate a lot for theatrical purposes, making this movie completely forgettable.

You HAVE seen this movie before.

[guarnot · 1/10 · 2 June 2018]

(NOTE-This review contains no spoilers. I would have considered including a spoiler to be an act of mercy. However, the movie was so overly chopped up to make room for more commercials, that it wasn't even clear what happened at the very end. The only way I was able to find out was by looking on the Web for real spoilers).

This movie is completely dumb--overacted, all the subtlety of a sledgehammer blow to the head, with a plot that takes kernels of a potentially realistic situation and blows it up all out of proportion, miles past believability. But I don't watch a Lifetime movie expecting to find an art film. And I don't even need to read any spoilers to know what happens-an innocent (woman or couple-in this case, couple) trusts an innocent-appearing person (in this case, woman), who turns out to be evil, incredibly brilliant and conniving, and seemingly unstoppable, who victimizes the innocents and makes them fear for their lives (and/or the lives of their children). Through sheer grit and their own amateur detective work, the innocents think they have finally won, but in a horrible plot twist, it appears that they are in imminent danger, as the evil person is revealed to be completely psychotic and about to do something unimaginable to them, which she usually describes in detail (since in Lifetime movies, exposition is always a chief symptom of psychosis). But at the last minute, goodness prevails, and the evil, psychotic villain either dies, is jailed, or ends up in a mental institution. If the latter, she is seen smiling maniacally and perhaps talking to herself, her pillow, or a cut-out representing the innocent ex-victims against whom she has now pledged eventual revenge.

You HAVE seen this movie before-the characters and some plot details may be slightly different, but I promise you that you have seen it.

So, you may ask, why did I bother watching this movie? I can't help myself. And that's even dumber than the movie....

Just, wow!

[Gigi_O · 1/10 · 24 April 2020]

Quite literally the worst film I have ever had the misfortune of watching, and I usually love a cheesy, 'so bad it's good' film of this type. Every single aspect is almost too terrible to describe. The premise is passable but the actual story is the most unbelievable load of nonsense you will ever witness if you're unfortunate enough to have to sit through this shocker. This is before I even mention the acting, which is quite frankly on a new level of appalling. Just so you know how serious I am about the quality of this film, consider that this is the first film reveiew I have ever written as I have never before felt the need to. But this film did it, it compelled me. Please don't make the same mistake I did, avoid this film at all costs.

***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 7 January 2017]

I would have easily rated this **** had it not been for the ultra-liberal ending of showing such compassion after what that character did to the family.

Wow! If anything else, the film was excellent because it showed what a landlord may very well have to go through to get rid of a tenant. While we have many slum landlords out there, we do have tenants who should be removed from occupancy under the conditions described in the film.

The story of a troubled girl with a past taking a job as a nanny and being given a room for herself in the house. When it's determined that she is absolutely no good, she resorts to all sorts of mayhem including tenant occupancy and lord knows what else in order to stay in the apartment with her drug trafficking boyfriend. The film shows what the owners went through in the legal process that was absolutely swayed for tenants.

Far from scary nanny

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 30 May 2019]

Despite having a general intense dislike of The Asylum (am really trying not to be biased here), do see their films out of curiosity to see whether they are capable of anything halfway watchable once in a while (has happened occasionally, but there is a big emphasis on that). And because low budget films can be watchable or more and do overcome any limitations that they have, there is no bias at all towards low budget films. Never has been and never will be, just to get that out in the open before any accusations arise.

'Evil Nanny' is not one of The Asylum's worst, a long way from it but only because the group that that distinction fits under is so large. It did have a decent concept but ruined it by just-one-step-above inept execution, which is enough to make one feel irked. Waste of potential is one of my biggest bugbears and committed a lot in film, 'Evil Nanny' is not one of the worst or most frustrating cases but it was not as if it was doomed from the start (have seen those kind of films too).

The least bad thing about 'Evil Nanny' is the start, which is okay and has some intrigue.

It's once the nanny gets fired when the film goes rapidly downhill and never recovers. The production values are drab and dreary with less than stylish photography. There is nothing memorable about the music, except that it doesn't fit with what's going on and is very obvious. The direction, from someone experienced in directing bad or worse films except this is actually better than some of them, struggles to sustain any suspense or even worse any momentum.

Script is stilted and very difficult to take seriously, wasn't sure whether to cringe or unintentionally laugh. The characters have nowhere near enough to them to endear to or be engaged by, with a mix of bland (the couple), stupid (the laughably incompetent cops) and over-the-top (the titular character). The film is full of shameful over-acting, especially the complete opposite of scary nanny, reminiscent of a cartoon.

But it's the story that condemns 'Evil Nanny' the most. There is nothing tense, scary or suspenseful here, much of it being dull and predictable. Even worse is the over-the-top stupidity and ridiculousness, nothing rings true or makes sense here while the last five minutes is enough to make one want to hit their heads against a wall.

Overall, very bad but have seen worse. 2/10

Not Good at all

[romeovision2002 · 1/10 · 24 April 2021]

Spoiler: You have a nanny who won't leave & she sues you in your own house. You also cast a black male to be her sidekick - the whole concept smells of racist writing. A white male, Asian, or any other race could have just as easily played that role. #hatedit.

A cautionary tale like "Pacific Heights"

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 7 February 2017]

The cast may not be too familiar but the story is pretty good. Remember the excellent thriller "Pacific Heights" and all the frustration you felt for the couple? Well this is another real estate thriller and the formula works. A crazy arsonist girl poses as a nanny and then refuses to leave a family's home. Sometimes you wonder can the law be such an ass but whatever it is a cautionary tale. Be careful who you let into your home. Double check every thing.

The action is plausible. Only thing is the ending has a rather unbelievable and out of place act of forgiveness.

Worth a watch.

Good

[Kristamw · 8/10 · 22 February 2019]

This movie sets a fine example of how to start off with an engaging hook! The setting is beautiful, the home of the family made up of wood-beamed ceilings and glazed wood walls. Lindsay Elston (Jen, the evil nanny, and shown above in the movie poster) is outstanding--a manipulative queen, wholly self-centered. Character Development/Writing Quality: What was shocking was that the state they live in (Wisconsin) is "tenant-friendly", making evicting Jen nearly impossible. But, arresting the husband for "falsely accusing" her of doing drugs seems unlikely, and the judge ordering them to pay her court fees for coming after them for evicting her, and Jen filing a restraining order and the cops buying it, and Jen filing bankruptcy to stay the eviction--no way. The writers have certainly created a nightmare, even if some of the details are almost entirely fictional.

Values: Jen has none. The couple do everything they can to protect their family. Content (sex, language & violence): One moment where Jen and a neighbor start to make out. Four uses of "bitch". Violence: An unexpected stab. Scare factor/suspense: What is 'scary' is how motivated Jen is to ruin the family's lives and how she toys with them. The fear derives from the family who have become victims in their own home, unable to be rid of this nightmare nanny. Crazy fact: Based on a true story, only the nanny, in real life, wasn't a young adult, but a woman in her sixties. Jen is very much like Darian's (Alicia Silverstone) character from The Crush (also based on a true story), only more adult-like.

And, a nice happy ending.

A Very Good Movie

[lighten20 · 9/10 · 9 April 2017]

There was enough tension in this well-acted movie to carry it along. I felt for the couple and knew as the movie progressed along it would reach a climax. I rooted for the couple and was angry with law- enforcement, but knew they were only following the law. There is a lesson in this madness. Check and double check all strange people you let in your house, no matter how "nice they seem.

One of the better LMN movies

[vbacon-111-578329 · 8/10 · 25 September 2020]

I don't get the really bad reviews. Yes, this is a LMN movie so you know you're not getting a high quality film. But this one is by far one of the better LMN movies out there. Lindsay Elston is amazing. I hope her career moves out of the realm of TV movies.