While the Children Sleep
| While the Children Sleep | |
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| Written by | Stephen Niver |
| Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Elia Cmiral |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Cinematography | Maximo Munzi |
| Editor(s) | Colleen Halsey |
| Release | |
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| External links | |
| Website | |
While the Children Sleep (also known as The Sitter) is a 2007 made-for-television horror film released on the Lifetime Movie Network. The film is about a couple who hires a live-in nanny (Mariana Klaveno)[1] who inserts herself increasingly into the family routine. Then friends of the family begin to have mysterious accidents, as the nanny conspires to replace the mother through murder. The film's plot was compared by reviewers to the 1992 film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle[2] and the 2001 film The Glass House, as well as others.[3]
Plot
A couple, Carter and Meghan, decide that they should hire a live-in sitter so that they can both work and support their two children, Max and Casey. Abby Reed answers their advertisement and they move her in immediately. After some initial rough spots with the kids, the family warms to Abby.[3] Abby seems obsessed with Carter, and when she helps organize a company party for a big success — that is rained out — she's in tears and distraught over the failed party. Carter's friend Tate tries to take advantage of Abby in her upset state, and then Tate is discovered dead in a car accident. Neighbor Mel is then suspicious of Abby, and is soon found dead as well, electrocuted in her bath. Then, Meghan's friend Shawna, now suspecting Abby as well, threatens disclosure as the final moments of Abby's plan to replace Meghan unfold.[4] As backstory, we find that Abby had been rescued from her abusive mother by family lawyer Carter many years before, where Abby's obsession originates with the family and desire to replace Meghan as his wife.[5]
Cast
- Mariana Klaveno as Abigail "Abby" Reed/Linda Reynolds
- Dominique Grund as young Abby/Linda
- Gail O'Grady as Meghan Eastman
- William R. Moses as Carter Eastman
- Tristan Lake Leabu as Maxwell "Max" Eastman
- Madison Davenport as Casey Eastman
- Stacy Haiduk as Shawna Pierson
- Joanne Baron as Melissa "Mel" Olson
- Alan Blumenfeld as Del Olson
- Thomas Curtis as Thomas "Tom" Olson
- Jon Lindstrom as Tate Walker
- Monique Daniels as Laura Berry
- Jill Jaress as Elizabeth Reynolds
- Jordan Moser as Chris
DVD release
The film was released on DVD on June 17, 2008 under the name The Sitter.[6]