The Baby

THE BABY-1973-This is a weird one! Anne Gentry (Anjanette Comer) a social worker visits the family of Mrs. Wadsworth (Ruth Roman: in Curtis Harrington's THE KILLING KIND the same year), her two daughters Germaine (Mariana Hill) and Alba (Susanne Zenor) and her son called Baby (David Manzy) a full grown adult who acts like a baby. He can't walk, sleeps in a crib, wears a diaper, drinks from a bottle and has to be fed. After an "encounter" with Baby, a babysitter is whipped and beaten by the female trio. Anne, who seems to have lost her husband, becomes obsessed with Baby's welfare and development. Alba punishes her brother with a cattle prod and Germaine has sex with him. Tod Andrews (from FROM HELL IT CAME) plays a doctor who tries to help Anne and Michael Pataki plays a pot smoker who tries to pick up Anne at Baby's birthday party before she is drugged and tied up. Fortunately Baby helps her escape and she takes him back to her house when she leaves. Mom and her daughters invade Anne's house to get Baby back. It doesn't turn out too good for them. Anne stabs both daughters to death then buries (wth help from her mother) Mrs, Wadsworth alive!  In the surprise ending....well there is a surprise ending too.

The acting is very good especially from Ruth Roman (an actress who always looked like she was wearing wig) as the fanatical mother. The sicko story was written by Abe Polsky who also penned THE REBEL ROUSERS in 1970. The direction by Ted Post (HANG 'EM HIGH, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES) is also very good and there's a good suspenseful finale although the scenes when Anne and Wadsworth fight over an axe are kind of goofy. Mariana Hill was in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER and MESSIAH OF EVIL around his time.

Thanks for reading!