Plot
A yuppie couple – he’s in advertising, she’s a designer – having just relocated to Los Angeles, entrust their newborn baby to the care of a full-time, live-in nanny hired through the “Guardian Angel” agency.
The new parents could never have imagined that the lovely young woman hides a dark, disturbing secret – she’s really a centuries-old druid/hamadryad who has sexual congress with a tree and periodically feeds it babies in exchange for a supernaturally long life.
Her sylvan counterpart specifically demands the flesh of newborns, which is why the not-quite human nanny plans to sacrifice her tiny charge to the tree as soon as possible. (“Did you know that after four weeks, their little blood cells change? After four weeks they’re not baby cells anymore. They’re just like ours” […] “I need the child before the blood changes!“).
Fortunately, another young mother shattered by the recent loss of her own baby shows up to warn the father. Hearing her cautionary tale, he realizes the nanny’s true nature, grabs a chainsaw, and heads into the woods. But will he intervene in time?
The blood of the child is pure now. In death it gives you life.
Critique
4.5Disjointed and incoherent post-Exorcist horror film directed by an uninspired William Friedkin, “The Guardian” fails to duly develop a host of potentially intriguing concepts.
The screenplay by Dan Greenburg – author of “The Nanny” (1978), the novel on which the film is based – is a silly, incoherent mess: Some incredibly contrived scenes (the none-too-bright, would-be rapists who are done in by the tree, the architect’s death by coyote, etc.), some outright ridiculous ones (the couple running out of the hospital with the baby, the father armed with a chain saw sullenly marching into the woods), off-puttingly superficial character development, and geographical and temporal implausibilities (an ancient tree trunk with a demonic appearance hidden in the outskirts of LA? The time between Camilla’s hiring and her unmasking is so short – two weeks – that it’s hard to fathom how she could have earned such a high level of unconditional trust and confidence from the boy’s parents).
Unfortunately, even if you set such considerations aside and fully embrace a fairy-tale style interpretation – repeated allusions to the Brothers Grimm are an invitation to slip into the universe of dark folk tales – the verdict doesn’t change: the film simply lacks the tension, the figurative power, and the vision required to pull off a story of that nature.
It’s actually quite a shame since the film’s premise was rather enticing (the opening quote: “Every tree has its guardian spirit: most aligned with goodness and life, but some embody powers of darkness and evil” is reminiscent of the horror-tinged sylvan stories of the great Algernon Blackwood), and also because we’re talking about a director whose skill in crafting memorable genre-bending films is a rare gift – he’s given us landmarks of horror such as “The Exorcist” (1973) as well as absolute crime thriller masterpieces such as “To Live and Die in L.A.” (1985).
Makeup and special effects are characterized by a notable splatter component, a small consolation for viewers who happen to be hardcore gorehounds.
More Info
- Based on the novel "The Nanny" (1987) by Dan Greenburg
Quotes
- There's no evidence that the woman you describe ever existed.
- The blood of the child is pure now. In death it gives you life.
- "How's Jake?" "Slept like a log"
Trivia
- Trees and nature in general were the focus of the fantasy literary output of Algernon Henry Blackwood (1869-1951), British novelist and longtime member of the Order of the Golden Dawn (an esoteric society founded on the tradition of the Jewish Kabbalah). Among his most notable short stories, we would recommend the arcane “The Willows” (1907) and the unsettling “The Man Whom the Trees Loved” (1912).
- On the subject of the symbolism of trees in various cultures, Charles Hirsch wrote an extremely enlightening essay entitled “The Tree” (1988).
Products
Disclosure
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| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
![The Guardian [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51E79wY4eAL._SL75_.jpg) | The Guardian [Blu-ray] | |
 | The Willows | |
 | The Willows | |
 | Best Short Stories of Algernon Blackwood | |
 | The Man Whom the Trees Loved: By Algernon Blackwood - Illustrated |
| Nome del prodotto | Prezzo | |
|---|---|---|
 | L'Albero Del Male | |
 | I salici | |
 | I salici | |
 | L'uomo che gli alberi amavano | |
 | L’uomo che amava gli alberi - The Man Whom the Trees Loved (1912) |
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
 | The Guardian (LA TUTORA, Spain Import, see details for languages) | |
 | The Guardian (LA TUTORA, Spain Import, see details for languages) | |
 | The Wendigo and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) | |
 | The Willows (Unabridged): Horror Classic | |
 | The Man Whom the Trees Loved |
| Nombre del producto | Precio | |
|---|---|---|
 | La tutora / The Guardian (1990) (Blu-Ray) |
| Produktname | Preis |
|---|
| Nom du produit | Prix | |
|---|---|---|
 | La Nurse | |
 | La Nurse - Combo Blu-ray + DVD |
| Product name | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| The Guardian [Blu-ray] | |
 | The Willows | |
 | The Man Whom the Trees Loved |