For thousands of years a religious order known as the Druids worshiped trees believing that every tree has a guardian spirit. Most of the trees are associated with good
but many trees embodied powers of evil and darkness. In this folktale, The Guardian by director William Friedkin is his first horror film
since The Exorcist. The Guardian is based on a parent’s
worst fear, losing a child. Parents of
two children, Alan (Gary Swanson) and Molly (Natalija Nogulich), decide to take a trip leaving their two children in
the care of a guardian, Camilla Grandier (Jenny Seagrove). Camilla’s intentions are quickly revealed as
a battle for the child’s soul begins, based on the popular novel by Dan
Greenburg, “The Nanny.” As the parent’s
leave for their trip, Molly, the wife realizes she left her glasses at
home. She returns home to find her
youngest child missing and had been taken away by Camilla. Camilla sacrifices the baby to the tree in
the woods which leaves the imprint of the baby’s face in its roots. Fast forward to three months later where the
story continues with a new couple Phil (Dwier Brown) and Kate (Carey Lowell), and their baby boy Jake who
moves into the same house. The parents
hire Camilla, as a guardian to look after Jake so they can continue with their
advertising jobs. Camilla
quickly becomes a part of the new family. Things begin to get strange when the
husband begins to have weird dreams about Jake and Camilla that begin to come
true. As the story continues, Camilla is caught trying to steal Jake from the
hospital after a minor injury. A
detective investigating the baby’s injury tells the parents that Camilla
doesn’t exist. Camilla begins to turn
into part tree and attacks Kate, while Phil attempts to cut down the demonic
tree with the embedded baby’s face. As he cuts down the limbs of the tree,
pieces of skin start to fall off Camilla and she loses her entire leg after
Phil cuts down an entire branch of the tree. The Guardian is an action packed horror film with lots of folklore
on the Druids who sacrificed human beings to trees for centuries, and includes ancient
evil, and the occult. The film is clearly another well directed movie by the
famous William Friedkin, which makes the film a must see for horror fans. Released on Blu-Ray by Scream! Factory is now available for purchase also as DVD on Amazon.
