Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

1991
15
1h 42m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

40K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:49

Five siblings are left alone all summer when their mom leaves town and the evil babysitter bites the dust.Five siblings are left alone all summer when their mom leaves town and the evil babysitter bites the dust.Five siblings are left alone all summer when their mom leaves town and the evil babysitter bites the dust.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

40K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,430

192

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 nominations total

Videos2

Trailer 1:49

Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead

Trailer 2:05

Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead

Trailer 2:05

Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead

Photos157

+ 150

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Production nearly stopped towards the end of shooting when Christopher Pettiet's drug addiction was getting out of control. The producers cut a few of his scenes to keep the film on schedule.

Goofs
Several times, the children refer to being on summer vacation. However, the computer at the office reads March 22, 1989, and the tickets Sue Ellen gets as a gift read April 1st, 1990.

Quotes
[repeated line]
Sue Ellen "Swell" Crandell: I'm right on top of that, Rose.

Crazy credits
The two groundskeepers for the cemetery stand over the Babysitters grave and comment how nice it was for her to leave them the money. The tombstone reads "Nice Old Lady inside who died of natural causes".

Alternate versions
TV versions edit the shot of the three drag queens stealing the car and also cut the line of dialogue from Sue Ellen that goes, "Oh yeah, what are we gonna say? Liza Minnelli stole our Buick?"

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: City Slickers/Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead/Jungle Fever/An Angel at My Table (1991)

Soundtracks
Draggin' the Line
Performed by Beat Goes Bang
Produced by Alan Meyerson and Beat Goes Bang
Courtesy of Restless Records
Written by Tommy James and Robert King (as Robert L. King)
Published by Longitude Music Co.

User reviews126

Featured review

8/10

Really stupid but I LOVED it!

OK the premise is dumb--A mom is going on vacation to Australia for two months. She has five children and leaves them with a tyrannical babysitter. The babysitter dies (of natural causes) within the first 15 minutes and the kids basically have to live alone all summer...but need money for food. The oldest one is 17 year old Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate)and she easily gets an executive position (just like real life, right?) at a fashion agency and, naturally, is incredible at her job. And her brothers and sisters learn values from her example...

Sounds horrible, but it's well-acted (especially Applegate and a drop dead gorgeous Joanna Cassidy), it moves quickly, is very funny, has a great soundtrack of new AND old songs and I enjoyed every minute of it! Not a great movie by any means, but if you can turn off your brain for 2 hours, you'll really enjoy it!