VHS Memory Theater Review #6: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Purchase History: Possibly before I was born. I've had it for as long as I remember it. It came out the year out the year I was born: 1992. I apologize in advance if I just made someone feel old.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle was a movie I watched occasionally as a kid. I'll admit the whole beginning of the movie involving the doctor went over my head, but I still enjoyed it. The premise is this, a woman named Claire (Annabella Sciorra) goes to the hospital for a checkup when she gets molested by her doctor. Soon, she presses charges on the doctor, who turns the gun on himself hearing about the allegations. His wife (played by 80's masturbation fantasy girl and Risky Business costar Rebecca De Mornay) is left penniless after the lawsuit against her now dead husband caused their assets to be frozen. To add insult to injury on the very same day she recieves this awful news, she has a miscarriage. Six months later, she poses as a babysitter named Peyton in order to get revenge on the woman responsible for her husband's suicide. Peyton begins to gain the family's trust and begins to claim the children, Claire's newborn son and her daughter, as her own. This movie was slower paced than I remembered. It's actually a great movie. At the end, it delivers some genuine scares. Rebecca DeMornay is hotter than I remember and she's pretty good in the role. Julianne Moore also has a nice small part as Marlene, a friend of Claire and her husband. Ernie Hudson's also pretty good as Solomon, the mentally challenged man who works for Claire's family. This movie was directed by Curtis Hanson. He does a great job and he definitely knows how to film a memorable death scene (see: L.A. Confidential). It's a really well-made thriller. It's also well shot considering Robert Elswit is the cinematographer. It doesn't break new ground, but I enjoyed it.
Trivia: Julianne Moore's film debut. Also the film debut of Madeline Zima, who plays Emma, the daughter. Some people may remember her from the Nanny, but any man with a pulse probably remembers her from Californication as Mia, the underage girl that David Duchovny has sex with in the first episode.
How does this hold up? It's still an entertaining movie. 1992 Julianne Moore is just as beautiful as modern day Julianne Moore. I actually didn't mention it before, but I liked how the husband, Michael actually had something to do and the actor who played him, Matt McCoy was pretty good in his role. But all the actors were very effective in their parts.
Is it worth double dipping on DVD? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Yes. There are some nice thrills and the movie as a whole is a lot of fun.
Rating: 8
Chillin'
I really enjoyed it and I would watch it again with no complaints. Thus the perfect 10. Glad you like the review.
Nice review. I really like the film.
I like how you say it's pretty good and then give it a perfect 10 :P