The Baby (1973)

Netflix* Synopsis:  Social worker Ann Gentry visits an odd family that includes a domineering mother, two trashy sisters, and Baby -- an adult son who wears diapers and sleeps in a crib. Ann makes it her mission to rescue Baby, but she's harboring a disturbing secret.

My Synopsis:  What she said... (I often envision Netflix as a woman... well, to be more specific, my Lover, so yeah - what she said)

The Peeps:  Ted Post (director); Abe Polsky (writer); Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Suzanne Zenor, David Manzy

Quick Run Down: Creepy and Very Unsettling

Worth the Watch?:  Yes!

The Baby (1973) follows Ann Gentry, a seemingly passionate social worker that becomes intrigued by a case involving a full grown man that lives with his mother and still acts and is treated like a baby.  When she picks up the case and visits the house, sure enough - there's a full grown man in a diaper and baby get-up, complete with rattle.  The mother, Mrs. Wadsworth, is forthcoming with information when Ann talks to her, but there's something about her that's not right, just as there is with her two daughters, Germaine and Alba.  Being that Baby (the 'kid' doesn't even have a name; they just call him baby) can't walk or talk because, mentally, he is still 1 or so years old, the more Ann sees him, the more she wants to push him to further develop himself and overturn the arrested development she is convinced the family has perpetuated on the child, but Mrs. Wadsworth and her daughters aren't so keen on the idea.  Dun, Dun, Dun, DUN!

Have you ever seen a movie that, as your watching it, you glance over at your co-watcher or just simply say out loud to yourself, "This is so friggin' weird..."  The Baby is a movie like that.  The first 30 minutes are strange.  Really strange, intriguingly strange, but still just strange.  I remember hesitantly chuckling and thinking, "This is... (searched for the word) just unsettling!"  Here's this actor, a full grown man, acting like a 1 year old, in a crib, getting his diaper changed, crying, and you can't seem to take your eyes off of him.  He acts JUST LIKE a baby.  In fact, the production dubbed in real baby cries and noises for when Baby speaks or gets upset, and that little tidbit adds to the strangeness of the whole film.  And, again, there is a lot of strangeness.  The pacing of the film is slow, with a lot of dialogue and only a few scenes of real action, but the exchanges between the characters and the characters themselves are enough to keep the film from dragging.  As a matter of fact, the acting in the movie is AWESOME!  Really awesome!  All four women in the movie and David Manzy (Baby) do a really, really good job, and, when they play off of each other, it's fun to watch.  Anjanette Comer (Ann) has a intensity and passion in her eyes and expressions that enhance the realism behind her social worker character; Ruth Roman (Mrs. Wadsworth) is just menacing at times with that raspy voice and gripping stare of hers; and the two daughters are... strange.  Marianne Hill, looking like Edward Scissorhands' sister, comes off as an eccentric oddball; and Suzanne Zenor has a certain attractive quality about her, but it's Rose McGowan hot, not Elisha Cuthbert.  Both manage a presence of tension while still doing little.  And Manzy (Baby) does awesome.  Thinking back, there are almost no moments where I wasn't convinced this guy wasn't a mental infant.  From the way he crawls to the way he wavers from frown to grin - he's awesome.  Again, I can't say enough about the acting.

       To be honest, the film would have worked better as a short than a feature film.  The second act drags some, namely during a party sequence, but it soon picks up and recaptures that unsettling quality so well established in the beginning.  The ending is somewhat predictable and requires some rationalizing - making it that much more short worthy - but the overall idea is very unique and different.  The movie itself isn't horrific - there's almost NO blood and no real scares, but the film is saturated in tension and the premise itself is pretty psychologically disturbing. 

So, if you're looking for a film that is strange, unique, and full of tense suspense, The Baby is a film to check out.  And that's easy to do because it's on Netflix!

Will someone pass the trailer, please?

"Nothing happened!  With your damn tit in his mouth,

and you call that nothing?   Lying bitch!"

- it's from The Baby!!!

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