Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The Baby Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 7, 2014

Ruth Roman was an elegant, husky voiced actress who made an impression in a number of notable films like Champion, Three Secrets and Strangers on a Train. Nevertheless, Roman never quite captured the brass ring of true stardom; she was a journeyman (journeywoman?) of sorts, working regularly for decades but rarely if ever attaining true renown. She therefore didn’t have quite the cachet of actresses like Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland or Joan Crawford, all of whom found a second career of sorts in the popular Gothic horror films of the sixties like What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? or Hush. . .Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Roman is still one of the more unforgettable elements in a film virtually awash in unforgettable elements (not necessarily in a good way) in the completely bizarre shocker (some might prefer schlocker) Baby, a sort of smarmy enterprise that might have made a good Movie of the Week had it been stripped of some of its more questionable and disturbing aspects. In fact, Baby’s director was television regular Ted Post, another journeyman of sorts who did scores of episodic tv outings while occasionally migrating into big screen forays like Hang 'Em High, Magnum Force and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. In an audio interview included on this new Blu-ray as a supplement, Post doesn’t seem particularly fazed with the dubious content of The Baby, despite the fact that the film centers on a grown man kept in an infantile state by his harridan mother and equally pernicious sisters. The Baby is inarguably shocking, but it’s frequently the kind of shock that comes from watching absolutely despicable behavior and situations and not being able to do much about it (other than perhaps turn off the Blu-ray player). Is there a subtext to The Baby? A couple of ideas float around the film in an oddly inchoate manner, including a female empowerment subtext, but it’s obvious that the filmmakers were out to make an exploitation flick of sorts that would give Roman a chance to chew the scenery and several other actors a chance to do everything from assault people with a cattle prod to wear adult diapers.

Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) is a social worker who, as the film opens, is gazing misty eyed at a scrapbook featuring photos of her family. It’s obvious that some sort of trauma has befallen Ann’s husband, as she discusses with her mother- in-law Judith (Beatrice Manley). That particular plot point is left unaddressed (for a while, anyway) once Ann takes on her latest clients, a wealthy if hermitic Los Angeles clan known as the Wadworths. Mrs. Wadsworth (Ruth Roman) welcomes Ann to her opulent mansion and seems to have little unease in talking about her supposedly mentally impaired adult son, a “child” who has always gone by the name Baby (David Mooney, known then as David Manzy). Baby doesn’t walk or talk, is kept in a crib most of the time and wears diapers. Ann is suitably intrigued.

With just that much information, it should be manifestly obvious that The Baby is already precariously close to camp territory, and with Roman spitting out lines like “Are you calling your brother a freak?”, it’s hard to argue that the film isn’t a camp fest. But there’s another aspect here that undermines the insouciant humor that often informs camp vehicles: The Baby is just rife with disturbing imagery, including one sister who uses a cattle prod on the “tot”, a babysitter who breastfeeds him, and assorted other unseemly activities (including more than a hint of incest).

A power struggle eventually ensues between Ann and the Wadworths, with Baby’s future ostensibly on the line. The film finally delivers some Grand Guignol chills in its final act, when Ann’s true motive for being interested in Baby is finally revealed. It’s here that The Baby at least momentarily rises above some truly questionable material to offer some more traditional and effective scares. But the underlying feeling here is one of distaste. How could an actress of Roman’s stature have gotten involved in something like this? And what about the parents of the real developmentally disabled children who are trotted out in a couple of truly revolting scenes involving a school for “special” kids? Did they have no idea of how their children were being exploited? Or, perhaps even worse, did they actually know?

Horror enthusiasts may feel like this plot précis sounds somewhat familiar, and indeed as incredible as it may sound, much the same story was utilized some ten years before The Baby in the somewhat similarly named film Spider Baby (available on so-called SD Blu-ray in the Attack of the B's compilation). The difference is that Spider Baby played things decidedly tongue in cheek (and/or baby binky in mouth), with a winking reference to its co-star Lon Chaney, Jr.’s horror film history. The Baby simply wallows in excess, without much redeeming content. If The Baby were in fact a real life child, chances are most viewers would be wanting to give it a time out.

The Baby Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Baby is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Severin's press materials state that this transfer is "fully restored from the original camera negative", and the results here are largely good, if still occasionally problematic. The elements still have their fair share of quite evident damage, including scratches, flecks and specks. While colors are generally accurate looking, it does appear that some minor fading has occurred over the decades, and things like flesh tones are often slightly on the brown side. Grain structure is healthy, though rather rough looking at times, especially in outdoor scenes. The two biggest issues here are variable sharpness and image instability. At times, the film looks really good, with well above average clarity and fine detail. At other times, though, it's noticeably softer and less defined, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when and why this anomaly occurs. Also, eagle eyed viewers may notice some slight but jittery image instability. It doesn't quite rise to the typical levels of telecine wobble or gate weave, but there are very slight, incremental but still noticeable jumps throughout this presentation which become more noticeable the closer you sit. Some may therefore feel that 4.0 stars is generous.

The Baby Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Baby features an LPCM 2.0 mono track that delivers dialogue completely cleanly and clearly with no attendant problems whatsoever. The film actually has a well above average score by the always reliable Gerald Fried, and that also sounds just fine here. Fidelity is very good, though dynamic range is somewhat limited.

The Baby Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The authoring on this disc is incorrect, so that the link pointing to the Post interview actually starts the Mooney interview, and vice versa.

• Tales from the Crib: Audio Interview with Director Ted Post (20:00)


• Baby Talk: Audio Interview with Star David Mooney (14:46)


• Theatrical Trailer (720p; 2:46)

The Baby Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As I mentioned above, there's no denying that The Baby is unforgettable. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's any good. It's disturbing, distressing and more than a bit smarmy. If that's your thing, the film at least has above average production values and some midlevel star power in the likes of Roman and Comer. This is the sort of cult horror item that many genre enthusiasts want to see at least once, but I doubt it's the sort of film that even those folks would put on heavy rotation. Technical merits here are good enough for genre enthusiasts or just the curious to consider purchasing it.