The Guardian is a 1990 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by William Friedkin (Jade; Bug) from a screenplay co-written with Stephen Volk (Gothic; The Kiss; Ghostwatch) and Dan Greenburg.
Based upon the novel The Nanny by Dan Greenburg, the film was produced by Joe Wizan (Audrey Rose; Dark Night of the Scarecrow; Spellbinder).
It stars Jenny Seagrove as a mysterious nanny who is hired by new parents, played by Dwier Brown and Carey Lowell, to care for their infant son; the couple soon discovers the nanny to be a Hamadryad whose previous clients’ children went missing under her care.
Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) was originally attached to the project before dropping out to direct Darkman instead. Heavily marketed as director Friedkin’s first foray into the horror genre since 1973’s The Exorcist, the film had a troubled production, with script undergoing numerous changes that continued well into the shooting process.
A cable television version of the film was credited to “Alan Von Smithee”, indicating that Friedkin wished to disassociate himself from its release.
On January 19, 2016, the film was released in the US on Blu-ray by Shout! Factory with the following special features:
- A Happy Coincidence – An Interview With Actor Dwier Brown
- From Strasberg To The Guardian – An Interview With Actor Gary Swanson
- A Mother’s Journey – An Interview With Actress Natalija Nogulich
- Scoring The Guardian – An Interview With Composer Jack Hues
- Tree Woman: The Effects Of The Guardian – An Interview With Makeup Effects Artist Matthew Mungle
- Return To The Genre – An Interview With Director/Co-writer William Friedkin
- The Nanny – An Interview With Actress Jenny Seagrove
- Don’t Go Into The Woods – An Interview With Co-writer Stephen Volk
- Still Gallery Of Behind-The-Scenes Photos
Buy: Amazon.com
Plot:
Ancient druids worshiped trees, sometimes offering them human sacrifices. Some of these trees were connected with evil.
At the Sheridan home, Molly and Allan Sheridan head off on a trip, leaving their two children in the care of their nanny, Diana Julian. Once alone and with the children sleeping, Diane kidnaps the daughter. Molly realises she left her glasses at the house, and upon returning she sees that her daughter is missing. Diana, out in the forest, approaches a giant, old, gnarled tree, and holds up the baby, which then disappears from her hands. The roots of the tree show the baby’s face, as it has been sacrificed to keep the tree alive. As Diana sits on the ground near a pool of water, her reflection disappears, leaving that of a growling wolf…
Reviews:
” … bolts headlong into the thickets of standard horror film cliches: ominous music, curtains blowing in the wind, empty baby cribs, dire warnings from strange women, manifestations of savage canines, and the lot.” RogerEbert.com
“The film was masterfully shot, sported some strong horror scenarios, was weird/eerie in a good way, had glorious effects/gore and put out a bad girl to be reckoned with in Camilla. Unfortunately, the flick had an awkward flow, was weak sauce with its WHO, HOW, WHY, and didn’t flesh out or focus on its protagonists enough (specially the wife).” Arrow in the Head
“The Guardian is balls out ridiculous almost right from the start, and its 90 minute running time doesn’t leave much room for character development or slow burn chills. Hell, our first kill comes almost completely out of nowhere…” Horror Movie a Day
“The problem with The Guardian is that though all the ingredients are there, they fail to come together in the final mix. The demonic nanny sent to ‘look after’ the child (complete with savage dogs to back her up), is straight from The Omen (1976), whilst a tree whose roots do its dirty work is reminiscent of the infamous vegetation attack from The Evil Dead…” Cleaver Patterson, Cine Vue
“It has a certain degree of silliness, but the violence (which is very blood and graphic, nice gore!) and general nastiness of the story is something Raimi never would touch. This is a crazy motherfucking killer-tree movie for a mature gore-seeking audience, with lots of nudity and a very nice and subtle reference to Day of the Triffids.” Ninja Dixon
Cast and characters:
- Jenny Seagrove as Camilla Grandier/Diana Julian
- Dwier Brown as Phil Sterling
- Carey Lowell as Kate Sterling
- Brad Hall as Ned Runcie
- Miguel Ferrer as Ralph Hess
- Natalia Nogulich as Molly Sheridan
- Pamela Brull as Gail Krasno
- Gary Swanson as Allan Sheridan
- Jack David Walker as Punk #1
- Willy Parsons as Punk #2
- Frank Noon as Punk #3
- Theresa Randle as Arlene Russell
- Xander Berkeley as Detective
- Ray Reinhardt as Dr. Klein
- Jacob Gelman as Scotty Sheridan
Filming locations:
Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Valencia California
Trailer:
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