The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 18
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 6
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 46,632
Movie Info
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is director Curtis Hanson's suburban horror story of a demented nanny bent on revenge for past wrongs. Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay) was once a happily married woman, but when her doctor husband is accused of assaulting a patient and he commits suicide, her world falls apart and she plots revenge. Claire (Annabella Sciorra), the woman who made the accusation, hires Peyton as a nanny, not knowing of their past involvement. Peyton then proceeds to terrorize the family,
Jan 10, 1992 Wide
Aug 28, 2001
Disney
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Annabella Sciorra
Claire Bartel -
Rebecca De Mornay
Peyton Flanders -
Matt McCoy
Michael Bartel -
Ernie Hudson
Solomon -
Julianne Moore
Marlene -
Madeline Zima
Emma Bartel -
John DeLancie
Dr. Mott -
Kevin Skousen
Marty -
Susan Chin
Newscaster -
Julie Clemmons
Female Lab Worker -
Jeff Conkel
Paramedic -
Laura Ferri
Emergency Room Nurse -
Brian Finney
Botanical Gardens Wo... -
Tom Francis
Marlene's Assistant -
Kimberly Hill
Newscaster -
Todd Jamieson
Surgeon -
Jane Jones
Woman in Park -
Aimee Kanemori
Child in Schoolyard -
Mitchell Laurence
Lawyer -
Penny LeGate
"Seattle Today" Host -
Cliff Lenz
"Seattle Today" Host -
Charles Lucia
Realtor -
Ericka Matson
Child in Schoolyard -
Cristine McMurdo-Wal...
Peyton's Nurse -
Ashley Melander
Baby Joe -
Eric Melander
Baby Joe -
Jennifer Melander
Baby Joe -
Elaine Micklesen
Child in Schoolyard -
Mary Anne Owen
Dr. Mott's Nurse -
Patrick Ryals
Policeman -
David Scully
Male Lab Worker -
Sara Jennifer Sharp
Peyton's Nurse -
Therese Xavier Tinli...
Receptionist -
Dee Dee Van Zyl
Emergency Room Nurse -
Stephen West
Federal Express Cler... -
Justin Zaremby
Schoolyard Bully -
-
Joseph Franklin
Man at Cleaners -
Robert James
Child in Schoolyard
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All Critics (45) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (18) | DVD (1)
This is De Mornay's film and she's a wicked treat, looking daggers at her enemy one moment and then glazing over with sweetness the next.
Top CriticThe film is unusually gripping.
The careful structure of THTRTC guarantees that the movie will generate a fair amount of suspense throughout. But the single-mindedness of the movie is a genuine limitation, and, watching it, you begin to feel spoon-fed.
With its banal, docile household threatened by an enemy within, the film is like The Stepfather without wit or irony.
At its best, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a bright, nasty psychological thriller with a joker up its sleeve.
Unpretentious and efficient.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is that rare thing, a realistic thriller wise enough not to sell short any of its characters. Just be prepared to become very, very scared when you see it.
This is pure unbridled hokum, of course, but extremely effective until the last 30 minutes, when the plot rapidly self-destructs.
All of the best parts here go to women -- Sciorra, De Mornay and Julianne Moore in a funny supporting bit as Claire's cynical, suspicious friend.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, though it positions itself as chilling suspense, is not even mildly scary; it's just offensive.
Exploitation of child abuse and baby-stealing make this one a particularly nasty business.
Things go about the way you expect them to, but Curtis Hanson, who directed, manages to make it work.
Five years before adapting and directing the modern masterpiece L.A. Confidential, Curtis Hanson helmed this sizable box office hit that, like 1987's Fatal Attraction, used home invasion as a crafty commercial hook.
De Mornay seems to have found her true vocation playing the nanny from hell, but while the ensuing thrills may well be enjoyed by many, anyone with offspring of their own would be wise to stay away.
This jovially sinister, middle-class morality tale-cum-horror show is predictable, implausible and fiendishly entertaining.
Scary premise of mad sitter vs mother and child...effective.
Touted as Fatal Attraction for the 1990s, this well-directed thrille (by Curtis Hanson) also features a blonde sociopath, except that the terror in of the family in this yarn is from within.
Audience Reviews for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Marlene: Poison!
- Peyton Flanders: Excuse me?!
-
- Marlene: If don't like this movie,then you don't enjoy good suspenseful movies. A lot of movies put you to sleep, not this one, entertaining.
Discussion Forum
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