THE BABY
US, 1972, 86 minutes, Colour.
Ruth Roman, Anjanette Comer, Marianna Hill, Suzanne Zener. Directed by Ted Post.
The Baby is rather a horrendous chiller. It succeeds as a ghoulish night out probably because it seems so unlikely (as is some of the dialogue) and probably because it plays very strongly on audience sympathy and shatters it. The ending is not for the faint hearted. Baby is a late teenager, retarded, cared for (?) by a slattern of a mother (Ruth Roman is ugly and crude (why do ageing American actresses take such strident roles?) and two very weird sisters. A caring social worker (Annjanette Comer) tries to help Baby with ghastly results all round. It's not the greatest horror film, but it gives audiences a fright.
1. Was this a good horror film? Was the film in good taste or in bad taste? Why?
2. How effective a mystery was it? Was the twist at the end handled well? How?
3. Was the story itself plausible? Or were there many implausible aspects of it? Did the dialogue and situations help to convince the audience of plausibility?
4. What was the importance of Anne and her mother-in-law looking at the photos during the credits? How ironic was this at the end?
5. How did Anne gain audience sympathy? Did she appear as a good social worker? How? Which sequences illustrated this best? Were you suspicious of her attentions to Baby? Did you side with the mother and the daughters against Anne at all?
6. What kind of women were the mother and her daughters? Were they too horrific? How typical of American mothers and daughters? Why did they act as they did?
7. What were your impressions of Baby? Should he have been as retarded as he was? How did his mother and his sisters retard him? The family background? The attitudes of the mother? The cruelty of one sister and the sensuousness of the other? Why did Baby respond so well to Anne?
8. Consider the scenes of cruelty by the family. What impact did they have on the audience? By the time of the party, were you in sympathy with Anne? In her wanting to take legal action against them? Were you surprised that the mother and daughters went to such lengths against Anne? Were you glad she escaped with Baby?
9. What were your impressions of the deaths of the mother and the two daughters? Were these sequences well handled? As horror? As suspense? Did you expect this kind of behaviour? The suggestions of the axe and the pit previously?
10. What were your final reactions to Anne and her mother in law? How horrible was this? Did they have any right to steal the baby for their purposes even without cruelty?
