The Baby (1973)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Ted Post

Writer:

Abe Polsky (written by)

Release Date:

March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Horror is his formula!

Plot:

A social worker who recently lost her husband investigates the strange Wadsworth family. The Wadsworths...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Social Worker | Alcoholism | Cult Film | Psychopath

Cast

Anjanette Comer	...	Ann Gentry
Ruth Roman	...	Mrs. Wadsworth
Marianna Hill	...	Germaine Wadsworth
Susanne Zenor	...	Alba Wadsworth (as Suzanne Zenor)
Tod Andrews	...	Doctor
Michael Pataki	...	Dennis
Beatrice Manley	...	Judith (as Beatrice Manley Blau)
Erin O'Reilly
Don Mallon
Joseph Bernard
Virginia Vincent
David Mooney	...	Baby (as David Manzy)

Runtime:

84 min | Australia:89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG | UK:X | Norway:(Banned) (1973-2003) (cinema release)

Company:

Quintet Productions

Trivia:

The re-mastered edition of the audio track is not the original track from the film. The original track contained the actual sounds made by David Mooney during the filming. The baby sounds came from his performance and not canned baby sounds. The original track must have been lost and later baby sounds were added.

Weird horror psychodrama with sick ending

I just love horror psychodramas from the early seventies, and this one's one of the best. The story concerns Ann Gentry(Anjanette Comer), a young social worker and recent widow who lives with her mother-in-law. Ann is given the case of the Wadsworth family: raspy-voiced Mrs. Wadsworth(Ruth Roman),her two weird adult daughters(Suzanne Zenor and Mariana Hill), and Baby, an adult man who is literally an infant mentally and developmentally. As Ann comes to know more about the Wadsworths, she decides to rescue Baby from his negligent and abusive family, and the initial battle between this upstanding young woman and these depraved women is underway! After several verbal sparrings with Mrs. Wadsworth, Ann accepts an invitation to Baby's birthday party, unaware that the crazy women have a plan to take her out of the picture! The deranged three give Ann drug-lace punch and attempt to tie her up in the basement, planning to dispose of her later. However, Ann escapes with Baby in tow. But Mama Wadsworth and her girls aren't giving up that easy, and decide to find Ann and take Baby back . . .

The great thing about this film is that there are clues to the ending which, in retrospect, obviously hint at the outcome. What we have here is a battle of wits between two sets of psychos. Mrs. Wadsworth and her daughters are fruitcakes, to be sure, but the ending casts Ann's attempt to rescue Baby--and her reasons behind it--in a disturbing new light . ..

A weird little film with a sick ending that distroys everything you assumed at the beginning. Reccommended.