In 1965 Bette Davis took on the role of a seemingly trustworthy but homicidal British nanny in "The Nanny." In 1976, Billie Whitelaw once again gave live-in caretakers a bad name as Ms. Baylock in "The Omen." But in 1992, Rebecca DeMornay took the cake with her icy, but symathetic nanny-turned-psycho in Curtis Hanson's unforgettable "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle."

The story, although repeatedly criticized for it's predictability (so what?!) follow the maternity of Claire Bartel (Sciorra) who files a lawsuit--followed by four other clients--against her malpracticing obstertrician Dr. Mott(de Lancie), after some proding from husband McCoy. Sensing the end of his profession, the breast-happy doctor kills himself with a pistol. Unbeknownst to Claire, Dr.Mott has a pregnant and emotionally insecure (understatment?) wife (an ever empathetic De Mornay) who, following her husband's suicide loses the child due to complications during birth and undergoes a hysterectomy.
Six months later, Claire has had her child and is in need of a nanny for her newborn and daughter (Madeline Zima) while she tinkers with her new greenhouse. Enter placid-faced De Mornay as Peyton Flanders, the answer to Claire's prayers, and let the bloody payback begin.

De Mornay delivers a earth-shattering performance as the nanny from Hell, Sciorra in an inferior role portrays the asthmatic mother who's losing her family to the help, and McCoy is a nice extra as the father who hasn't got a clue until it's too late. Julianne Moore, in one of her first big breaks plays Scoirra's ill-fated (yes, it's gory) sister-in-law AND old flame of her own hubby. Hudson plays the mentally-challenged African-American handyman and hero, Solomon, who falls victim to the nanny's dirtywork. A well-rounded cast makes "Cradle" a treat for stalker/killer flick fans as well as those with a taste for substancial Hollywood thrillers.

Graeme Revell's score punctuates an occasionally slow-paced plot and accentuates on the thematic elements, while still giving the leads--particularly the nanny--good prescence and feeling. Special effects and stunts aren't the main emphasis, but the demise of Julianne Moore's nosy sister-in-law in the greenhouse is an unforgettable bloodbath that'll make you think twice about the way you position skylights.

Crowd-pleasing ending could've been better, but one supposes is the justified (and ultra-typical) way to end the Hollywood horror film. Good-guys win, bad-girl loses, cue the light-hearted music and roll credits. Deja vu? You betcha! But, for the other 95% of "Cradle" you won't be disappointed by Hanson's skillful direction and a beautifully crafted edge-of-your-seat drama.

Saw it, loved it, bought it (was there ever a doubt?),
Miss Gigi

Annabella Sciorra's film career was beginning to skyrocket when this film was theatrically released in January 1992. Her previous film credits include THE HARD WAY and CADILLAC MAN. She had a great role in the latter film. In this film,Sciorra is Claire Bartel who is searching for a nanny for her toddler daughter and her(Claire's) infant son. The hired nanny is Peyton Flanders(Rebecca DeMornay) who ends up trying to kill the baby. Peyton is the widow of Claire's physician Dr. Victor Mott. Peyton told Claire when they first met,that Peyton was once pregnant and miscarried around the time Dr. Mott was murdered. That scared her from having more children of her own. Before working for Claire and her engineer husband Michael(Matt McCoy),Peyton worked with one family who will be moving away and she didn't know where she'd go from there. Peyton overheard a conversation amongst a group of mommies,with one of them saying Claire needed a nanny. Ernie Hudson is Solomon,a black maintenance man who is good handling the baby also. Claire accused Dr. Mott of molesting her shortly before his murder. That's another reason why Peyton came along,seeking revenge. Peyton even releases the contents of Claire's breath machine(Claire suffers from asthma). The not-yet-famous Julianne Moore is Marlene Craven,a friend of the Bartels and an ex-girlfriend of Michael's. Marlene goes out of her way to convince Claire that Peyton is "poison". Marlene ends up killed also,by falling window pane glass from the Bartels' greenhouse. There were points sharp enough to fatally stab. There was a scene in the 1990 film GHOST just like that. A guy was killed by falling window pane glass. Peyton "rigged" the greenhouse,planning to kill Claire. Also in another scene,Claire has a surprise birthday party(this was Peyton's idea). After learning that Peyton is "poison",Claire returns to the Bartels' home,punching Peyton out. After Peyton is thrown out,she returns armed and duels with Claire. Claire wins the duel,and Peyton rolls off the Bartels' roof from the attic,onto the ground,destroying the fence also. This film was distributed by Hollywood Pictures,a division of Buena Vista.

i got to see this in '1992, and anyone who says that this movie is fluff are simply nothing but liars. the story is excellent, and the actors do a great job.you will be drawn into the story...it is one of those movies which does not rely on cheezy stuff. i believe that it was a remake, but it holds weight. alot of the young actors and actresses of today[in 2005] wished they were in a film similiar to this. this is classic. classic does not say it is old, it says that the film is timeless, has substance and will be remembered. if you don't want to waste your time or money on something dumb such as the scream movies,friday the 13th slasher films, or eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, or you simply want something intellectual, get this.

I seem to be watching a lot of my mum's movies at the moment (first Disclosure, now this), as to be honest, I'm getting a little bored with my DVDs. I need some fresh blood. Which isn't easy when you're limiting yourself to one DVD a week. So instead, I'll just dig around in my mum's DVD case.

I've seen this movie a million and one times now, and I never get fed up of it. There aren't many well known actors, apart from Rebecca De Mornay, Ernie Hudson and Julianne Moore in a truly bitchy role. Madeline Zima also appears in a very annoying role - when her mother tells her to stay put, does she? Does she hell! She just has to get involved! I didn't recognise many of the actors in this, although they all did a fantastic job, especially Annabella Sciorra, who plays the part of an asthmatic mother (although, she doesn't catch on to the fact that all her inhalers stop working at the same time)

Rebecca De Mornay & Ernie Hudson do brilliantly in this, as the psychotic nanny, and the mentally ill handyman respectively. Rebecca works the icy cold stare to the maximum, and almost looks evil towards the end of the movie, although she does sometimes have a certain childlike quality to her. Ernie is the only one to catch onto what she's really trying to do, although I do find her breastfeeding another woman's baby a little freaky. The movie shows a sensitivity to those with mental disabilities and doesn't exploit the mental illness simply for entertainment.

Julianne Moore, in one of her first roles, looking surprisingly young, is a true saracastic little bitch in this, and I wish she'd had more screen time, as she was terrific. She also cottons on to the fact that Peyton the psychotic nanny isn't quite right.

The whole film is brilliantly, although I can imagine some people not watching it, due to there being no "big name stars" in it. Well, no A-list celebrities in it. But if you see it cheaply, it's well worth watching, so go and abuse your credit card.

"The hand that rocks the cradle" from 1992 and by Hollywood pictures was a great movie. i remembered it did create a buzz when it came out. the performances were good, but what really got it attention was this vile and almost mesmerizing character of peyton flanders (rebecca mornay). an over the edge psycho who wants to get revenge on one family because of a miscarriage she suffered over the fact that her husband , dr. mott (john de lancie) has been found guilty of sexually foundling his own patients.

Of course dr. mott has dr. mott has had a long history of doing this and his wife knows about it. however his dark secret is exposed by claire bartel (annabella sciorra) who while pregnant gets some unwanted sexually advances by the good old dr.

Bartel then is pointed as the first woman to come out as one of the dr. victim's and this causes a domino effect where other victims come of the closet to talk about the dr. the dr's games are over , however he can't deal with the fact that he has been exposed and going to prison, so he commits suicide (via a gunshot).

Peyton (mornay) loses their baby in the process and when she finds out miss bartel was the first victim to speak out she does what any typical psycho would do, she targets her for her revenge. the expression "hell on wheels" definitely applies here. Peyton's character is quite a sight for sore eyes, i haven't seen a psychotic character like this since glenn close's alex character in fatal attraction.

However, peyton doesn't launch an obvious assault on claire. no she's schemes to get into the family and then killing clare by posing as a nanny for hire in the family.

She then sets up the situation to get hired by making it look like the baby of the Bartel's is choking and thus saving her life. Pathetic. However the Bartels, Clare and Michael (Matt Mccoy) laughingly fall for the lies of Peyton despite the fact that she isn't whom she claims to be but then again the Bartel family is such a naive family that they are easily pluckings for Peyton's revenge.

For instance, Peyton is hired to be the "nanny" even though, she admits she wasn't sent by a nanny agency , she doesn't have clear cut references, and Marlena Craven (Clare's friend) doesn't like her one bit.

That about sums the movie itself in a way. It seems several characters are either too dumb or too naive to see what's going and this in turn leads to the disastrous things that happen at the hands of Peyton.

For example it seems that Clare has a sort of asthma problem and she must take her pills. Well one day, Michael (Matt Mccoy) must turn in an important proposal to his company. Clare volunteers to do it, but when her back is turned, Peyton hides the proposal thus ensuring some problems in the marriage of the Bartels. The stress caused on Clare causes her to have several asthma attacks yet she doesn't see that Peyton is responsible despite the warnings from Marlena or the obvious advances Peyton is making toward Michael. Yes that's right Peyton ever the home-wrecker tries to make sexual advances toward this gullible guy to break up the family.

Add further insult the other person who doesn't believe Peyton's nanny character is who she claims is Solomon (Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters and Oz). Solomon is a black man who is mentally challenged, yet despite this Solomon has the intelligence to realize Peyton is a psycho. However, Peyton before Solomon has a chance to discuss his suspicions of her, gets rid of Solomon, thus leaving the Bartel family once again an easy target for her.

LOL I made it sound like a soap opera. But all kidding aside "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is a very intense psychological thriller. Probably the best that came after Fatal Attraction and was then followed by another thriller about a psycho woman in "Single White Female" with Bridget Fonda.