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)

I actually kinda liked it

For Fulci fans, this may be a bit disappointing considering the pace and the lack of heavy gore, but this is not to say that nothing strange or ominous happens during the course of the film. In fact, i thought some of the random and strange deaths were good payoffs in their own right (i had to rewind a few of them to see if I missed something - turns out i didn't). Manhattan Baby really plays out like a poor sibling to "The Beyond:" an evil curse is unleashed and people start dying in strange, inexplicable ways while story coherence takes a backseat. This movie even features a lot of the same music used in The Beyond, but the similarities don't end there. As is characteristic by Fulci, there is ample coverage of the actor's eyeballs in extreme close-up overused to a comical effect and features its share of poor dialogue, wooden acting and some over-the-top characterization as well. All the same, this was a noble attempt on the part of Fulci and screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti to try something different within the horror genre and not rely so much on the bloodletting. While I wouldn't call this a runaway success, it tends to work on its own terms and is very enjoyable indeed.