Manhattan Baby (1982)

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Elisa Briganti (screenplay)
Elisa Briganti (story)

Release Date:

27 July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Little Susie is very young, very pretty, and very very evil!

Plot:

An archaelogist opens an Egyptian tomb and accidently releases an evil spirit. His young daughter becomes possessed by the freed enity and, upon arrival back in New York, the gory murders begin.

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Blindness | Egypt | Curse | Scorpion

Cast

Christopher Connelly	...	Professor George Hacker
Martha Taylor	...	Emily Hacker
Brigitta Boccoli	...	Susie Hacker
Giovanni Frezza	...	Tommy Hacker
Cinzia de Ponti	...	Jamie Lee
Cosimo Cinieri	...	Adrian Mercato (as Laurence Welles)
Andrea Bosic	...	Optician
Carlo De Mejo	...	Luke
Enzo Marino Bellanich	...	Wiler (as Vincenzo Bellanich)
Mario Moretti	...	Tennant
Lucio Fulci	...	Dr. Forrester
Tonino Pulci	...	Orderly (as Antonie Pulci)

Also Known As:

Evil Eye
Eye of the Evil Dead (USA) (dubbed version)
Il malocchio
The Possessed

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Italy:VM14 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Cairo, Egypt

Company:

Fulvia Film

Trivia:

The name of the character Adrian Marcato is borrowed from Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: On the end of the movie, when Adrian Mercato is attacked by the birds, a thread is visible, holding one of the birds.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Beyond the Living Dead (2001) (V)

Fulci Baby!

Hey - it's 1980 and Mr. Fulci wishes to do something 'not so horror'. So he created this tale about an Egyptian amulet which brings terrible tragedy to a New York family. I've seen about 15 of these Italian post-giallo horrors now from Fulci, Bava and of course, Argento. I found this one to be relatively well-dubbed and paced. In other words, the pace wasn't infintessimal and the actors didn't break from Italian into dubbed English and vice versa. For all I know, this was recorded in English given its title. Anyway, the two children in the film are strikingly eerie, remniscent of Village of the Damned's little miscreants, though the boy's voice seems very off (the only exception to my comment about the dubbing)- check out his first few lines in the park in "Manhattan"! Hilarious! The plot, while somewhat draggy as all of these films are (other societies don't demand a new scene every 2.5 minutes and either dialogue or action at all times it seems), it's not that slow. Of course these films are often watched for the unflinching depictions of gore that Italians are not afraid to deliver, and while the violence is a bit more subtle in this one than most, there are three scenes which will satisfy this type of viewer. Ultimately, this film's worst trait is its attempt at more 'psychological' horror in my opinion. However, it is not bad - as long as you are used to these Italians and their significantly different motivations and backgrounds from American directors. Oh, and as you might expect from Fulci, the cinematography is spellbinding at times.