Sharon's Baby (1975) I Don't Want to Be Born (original title)

Director:

Peter Sasdy

Writers:

Stanley Price (screenplay)
Nato De Angeles (original story)

Release Date:

May 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Not Since "Rosemary's Baby"...

Plot:

A woman gives birth to a baby, but this is no ordinary little tyke. The child is seemingly possessed...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Dwarf | Mother | Supernatural | Homicidal Baby

Cast

Joan Collins	...	Lucy Carlesi
Eileen Atkins	...	Sister Albana
Ralph Bates	...	Gino Carlesi
Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Finch
Caroline Munro	...	Mandy Gregory
Hilary Mason	...	Mrs. Hyde
John Steiner	...	Tommy Morris
Janet Key	...	Jill Fletcher
George Claydon	...	Hercules
Derek Benfield	...	Police Inspector
Stanley Lebor	...	Police Sergeant
Judy Buxton	...	Sheila
Andy Secombe	...	Delivery Boy (as Andrew Secombe)
Susan Richards	...	Old Lady
Phyllis MacMahon	...	Nun (as Phyllis McMahon)
John Moore	...	Priest
Floella Benjamin	...	1st Nurse
Penny Darch	...	2nd Nurse
Maria Lopez	...	Stripper (as Lopez)
Susie Lightining	...	Stripper
Val Hoadley	...	Dancer
Janice Brett	...	Dancer

Directed by
Peter Sasdy

Writing credits
Stanley Price		(screenplay)
Nato De Angeles		(original story)

Produced by
Nato De Angeles	....	executive producer
Norma Corney	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ron Grainer

Cinematography by
Kenneth Talbot		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Keith Palmer

Art Direction by
Roy Stannard

Makeup Department
Stephanie Kaye	....	hairdresser
Eddie Knight	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Christopher Sutton	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Bracknell	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ted Ambrose	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Don Challis	....	sound editor
Dushko Indjic	....	sound
Gordon K. McCallum	....	dubbing mixer
Kevin Sutton	....	sound recording
John Hayward	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Bert Luxford	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Kindred	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brenda Dabbs	....	wardrobe supervisor

Music Department
Ron Grainer	....	conductor

Other crew
Jill Bender	....	assistant to director
Renée Glynne	....	continuity (as Renee Glynne)
Mia Nardi	....	choreographer (as Mia Nadasi)

Production Companies

• Rank Organisation, The (presents) (as The Rank Organisation)
• Unicapital (as A Unicapital Production)

Distributors

• Fox-Rank (1975) (UK) (theatrical)
• American International Pictures (AIP) (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (1976) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Axon Video (video)
• Scorpion Releasing (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Garant (1984) (Belgium) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"I Don't Want to Be Born" - UK (original title)
"The Devil Within Her" - USA

Runtime:

95 min | Belgium:90 min (video version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:R | Norway:18 (video rating) (1982) | Norway:(Banned) (1975-2003) (cinema release) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

32 Wellington Square, Kensington, London, England, UK

Company:

Rank Organisation, The

Quotes:

[first lines]
1st Nurse:What's wrong, sir?
Dr. Finch:This one doesn't want to be born.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sneak Previews: Taxi Driver/The Man Who Would Be King/Hester Street/The Story of Adele H." (1976)

Dull, stupid "Rosemary's Baby" ripoff

Joan Collins plays a stripper named Lucy. At the club, a dwarf worker tries to sexually molest her. She spurns him and he curses her to have a baby possessed by the Devil. A few years later she's out of the business, happily married to Gino (Ralph Bates!) and pregnant. The baby is born (after an extremely harsh delivery) and immediately starts acting violently. It scratches, spits, bites and starts killing people! What to do? It's a good thing Gino's sister is a nun, Sister Albana (Eileen Atkins), and has a few ideas.

This is reasonably well-directed, looks great, has some good acting...but that's it. Collins is just fantastic in her role; Donald Pleasance equally good as the baby's doctor and Atkins (wisely) doesn't take her role too seriously. But who thought having Ralph Bates playing an Italian was a good idea? He looks miserable and his "accent" is hilarious. Atkins (who is also British) does a better job of it--but every time she says "devil" it sounds like "davel" and is (unintentionally?) hysterical. And Caroline Munro is on hand in a nothing part--but she looks just great.

The script is dull dull dull. There's not enough material here for 90 minutes. It's filled with people endlessly repeating the same lines (I heard "the baby is so big" so many times I was ready to scream!) and has tons of filler with people walking around. I got so bored after an hour I basically started to fast forward through this.

The baby's attacks aren't really shown (until the end)--we always see the aftermath and we NEVER see the baby doing it. Also, the film is relatively bloodless until the last 15 minutes which throws in a couple of nice gory murders--but it's too little too late.

All that's left about this movie is some very good acting and a VERY cute-looking baby. That aside--forget it.

Rent "Rosemary's Baby" instead--you'll be much better off.