Review: The Baby
Blu-ray: The Baby (1973)
While not the 1970’s softcore sex comedy that the original theatrical poster alludes to, The Baby delivers in spades as an atmospheric thriller, with a growing tension that gnaws away at the back of your head as you watch the crazy antics onscreen.
Social worker Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) is widowed after the mysterious death of her husband (just 1 of many narrative threads that keep you hanging onto the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’) and is sent to investigate the Wadsworth family, who consist of a Mother, 2 daughters, and an adult son (the titular ‘baby’) who has the mental capacity of an infant and is kept in a permanent state of not talking or walking.
Ann sets out to ‘free’ baby from the tyrannical Wadsworth family, but her own agenda for doing so may not entirely be as first thought.
The Baby is one of those low budget ‘cult’ movies that you are selective as to who you recommend it to. Those viewers whose cinematic intake is always the latest blockbuster at the local multi-screen may well baulk as ‘baby’ suckules on the breast of his babysitter, and even if you are well versed on the lower budget end of cult cinema, you’ll still be amazed at what plays out before you.
Ruth Roman is spectacular as Mrs Wadsworth, the head of the family and whom Ann slowly begins to transform into as she fights for baby. While David Mooney’s (credited as David Manzy) performance as baby stays away from being the laugh out loud imitation of a baby that it could well have been, and instead elicits empathy from you as you watch his plight and the situation he has been forced into.
In the hands of a lot of directors, The Baby would have desended into a flesh filled and bloody exploitation flick that would have got lost in a crowd of other such movies. However, under the direction of Ted Post, The Baby belies its low budget and delivers a taught thriller with a payoff that may well drop a few jaws.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 versions of the feature
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
- Down Will Come Baby – a new retrospective with film professor Rebekah McKendry
- Tales from the Crib – archival audio Interview with director Ted Post
- Baby Talk – archival audio Interview with Star David Mooney
- Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger.
The Baby is released on 24th September 2018 and you can buy it by clicking HERE. ALL money raised by purchasing from Amazon via our website is given back to our listeners and followers in upcoming competition prizes. The more people buy, the bigger our prizes.
Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Aim Publicity from Arrow Films.