The Guardian: Blu-Ray Review
Arriving on Blu-ray this week is 1990’s “The Guardian”, which was director/ co-writer William Friedkin’s first horror film since “The Exorcist”. It has been at least two decades since I have seen this film but I do remember liking it upon its initial release. After watching it again recently, I realize just how bad “The Guardian” is. That’s not to say I didn’t have some fun with it. This is one of those entertainingly terrible movies.
“The Guardian” centers on Phil (Dwier Brown) and his wife Kate (Carey Lowell). Shortly after they move to Los Angeles, the couple have their first baby. With Phil busy at work, they decide to hire a nanny. When their first choice has an unfortunate accident, they bring in Camilla (Jenny Seagrove). What Phil and Kate don’t realize is that their nanny plans to sacrifice the baby to a supernatural tree within the forest.
Some of the best scenes in “The Guardian” take place at the evil tree. We get to see it take out a group of thugs who attack Camilla and the baby. The problem here is that “The Guardian” is not actually scary. However the film is so ridiculous it’s nearly impossible for genre fans not to like it. If you have never seen “The Guardian”, don’t go in expecting anything on the level of “The Exorcist” or “The French Connection”. Just take it for what it is and have some fun.
This Blu-ray release is filled with so many new bonus features, I am surprised it didn’t get a “special edition” release. Just check them out below.
Bonus Features
• NEW A Happy Coincidence – An Interview With Actor Dwier Brown
• NEW From Strasberg To The Guardian – An Interview With Actor Gary Swanson
• NEW A Mother’s Journey – An Interview With Actress Natalija Nogulich
• NEW Scoring The Guardian – An Interview With Composer Jack Hues
• NEW 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
By: Marc Ferman