The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

* My favorite IMDB user reviews about The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Great suspense movie - 23 April 2005
One of the greatest thrillers ever made. A classic. Perfect script, superb acting, excellent execution. Curtis Hanson is a true master. Annabella Sciorra, Rebecca De Mornay, Ernie Hudson, Julianne Moore and others make this movie unforgettable. www.bestdvd.co.uk wrote: "A great performance from De Mornay who is truly convincing as the insane Nanny from hell. Likewise, Ernie Hudson who is the retarded Solomon, (a handyman helping out the family) hits the emotional nerve as he gets the sharp end of the stick from de Mornay. The camera-work is superb too - reminiscent of the 80's horror style shots - and works to great dramatic effect. The suspense as the film nears its finale is magnificent and you soon forget the 2 hour length of the film after a sluggish midsection.

A decent thriller- 12 September 1999
I remember watching quite a few thrillers around the time this was released - Unlawful Entry, Single White Female, Deadbolt - all were fairly similar in theme. This film I enjoyed the most though mainly due to menacing performance of Rebecca de Mornay. Man, she's a nasty piece of work.

The greenhouse bit is particularly tense especially when you know what's coming.

Rebecca de Mornay is the nanny from hell...scary thriller... - 31 December 2006
You have to hand it to the makers of THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE--once the story starts to unravel, you have to stay tuned to find out how this manipulative bitch will get her comeuppance. It's as simple as that. We know from the start that she has evil intentions, but we never know how evil they are until she starts a series of manipulative acts that demonstrate how cunning and remorseless she is.

REBECCA de MORNAY is so convincingly evil that you have to wonder why her career didn't skyrocket after this. It's a performance worthy of award consideration, but both she and the film itself have been largely forgotten. None of the supporting players, with the exception of JULIANNE MOORE, have become household names but they're all quite effective.

The ending may be somewhat predictable--and most welcome when it finally comes--but it's still stylishly done and a satisfying conclusion to a tale of household terror when a nanny's rage goes amok because of an incident in her past involving a woman whom she perceives as ruining her husband's life. Sure, it's been done before, but never quite so cunningly presented.

Chilly and disturbing movie. - 18 May 2001
Despite not being fond of that type of movie, The Hands That Rocks The Cradle is an exception. I like so much this movie, mainly Rebecca de Mornay's warped character. How she earns that family's respect and confidence and step by step she's tearing them apart. Fortunately (Or not, given what eventually happens to her) Marlene finds out (Good job, as always, by Julianne Moore, that is as beautiful as usual) and Peyton's plans are discovered.

One of my favourite scenes is when Peyton goes to the little daughter's schoolyard and tells that bully off. She warns him not to f*** with her and the bully screams in pain.

If you are in the mood of spending almost two hours watching a chilly movie with good acting and a tense ending, pick this one. Ten out of ten.

Everything was fine until they hired that babysitter... - 2 October 2005
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is the cornerstone of the trashy chick flick sub-genre. Many films since have used the same formula that makes this one a success, and most have failed. The reason this film is almost a resounding success has nothing to do with the plot or characters, however, it's the way that director Curtis Hanson handles it. The man who would go on to find acclaim with the astounding L.A. Confidential directs with the utmost still, and while there are few absolutely shocking sequences in this film; you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise due to the way that Hanson handles every scene. The movie leaves a lot of room for suspense, and every instant is made the best of by the director. The plot seems rather routine these days (and it probably did back in 1992), as we see a good all-American family hire the 'perfect' babysitter. She's not quite so perfect, however, and as we watch her pull down the family she's supposed to be helping from within, this becomes abundantly clear.

One thing that makes this film hard to like for some people is the fact that almost every motivation in the film is extremely unlikely. Would you hire a babysitter who apparently 'just knew' you wanted one? Wouldn't you become suspicious when everything started going wrong after you hired her? The list goes on, it really does, and it would seem that writer Amanda Silver just wanted to portray certain plots and didn't care too much how the characters fit into them. It's also obvious that the script was written by a woman throughout, with many of the sequences being more aimed towards women. None of these points really harm it though, because it's so well handled that it's hard not to just sit back and enjoy yourself. The centrepiece when it comes to the stagy set pieces is definitely the one with the greenhouse, which is both psychologically pleasing and suspense filled. The acting is just fine, with Rebecca De Mornay slotting into the deranged psycho role nicely. The best thing about this film for me is definitely the way that the babysitter manipulates the children and engineers situations to her advantage. This may be trash at the end of the day, but it's fiendishly done!