Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305701958
Format: Color
ISBN: 6305701954
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Release Date: 2000-01-25
Running Time: 84
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1973-03

What goes on in this nursery isn't for kids! Pray you don't learn the secret of..."The Baby!" Social worker Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) is assigned to a new case: the Wadsworth family, which consists of an abusive, alcoholic mother (Ruth Roman), two demented and over-sexed daughters (Suzanne Zenor and Mariana Hill) and "Baby"--a grown son who lives in a crib, gurgles incoherently and is treated like an infant! As Ann slowly learns the dark secrets behind the family, she sets her sights on liberating Baby until a bizarre revelation about her own past leads to a shocking and twisted denouement. Spend some time with one of cinema's sickest families ever and rediscover a little-seen thriller that ranks as one of the most perverse and unique films of the 1970s.
It's hard to even know where to start discussing The Baby, one of the weirder and more obscure pieces of '70s film flotsam to come down the line. A social worker (Anjanette Comer) is called in to investigate a family's eligibility for aid. The family members (a widow and two adult daughters) have a baby under their roof--the odd thing is, the baby appears to be 23 or so and still residing in a playpen. The social worker is soon in over her head on the case, and events begin to take on a momentum of their own. The mother (Ruth Roman) doesn't appreciate the woman's snooping and soon goes from standoffish to downright hostile. The movie's climax comes from far, far in left field; it's a real jaw-dropper for even the most jaded horror fan. Roman gives a full-throttle performance as the blowsy, cigarette-puffing mom of the twisted little nuclear family, and her two daughters are close behind, with poor Baby (who has no other name) crawling, bawling, and dirtying his diapers. The scene where the three sneak up and find a teen babysitter breastfeeding Baby (yes, really), then beat the stuffing out of her with a belt is enough to scare the bejesus out of General George Patton. The girl wasn't asked to babysit again, incidentally. TV director Ted Post gives the film a bland movie-of-the-week look which, along with its sunny California climes, somehow makes it even more unnerving. Some may find The Baby offensive, some may find it inadvertently funny, but there's no question that it's a bizarre, uncomfortable movie that's highly recommended for cult-movie aficionados and fans of the depraved. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment_Wah-Wah
Comment: As a fan of weird/obscure/b-movies and after reading some of the reviews here on Amazon, I was excited to watch this movie. Boy, what a disappointment. First off, the movie isn't really a horror movie. Yes this movie is weird and the plot is somewhat bizarre but it wasn't "weird" or "interesting" enough to pay around $20.00; trust me on this.

Some of the bad points of the movie were: The grown man (who actually looks a little like Keith Moon in his later years) acting like a baby was pretty lame. On top of that, there were no cool sets or visuals. The acting was horrible (and not in a good, campy way). The dialogue and conversations were drawn out, boring, and annoyingly hard to hear.

The ending was kind of cool but there were lots of plot holes that led to it. In other words, this movie is not worth your time or money.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A bazare, twisted, strange film!
Comment: This well-acted film is a gothic, southern, horror psychodrama from the early 1970's.It played mainly in drive-ins across the country in the mid-seventies."Baby" is a man/child in his twenties kept in a infantile state by his twisted, husky-voiced, chain smoking mother(played perfectly by Ruth Roman) & sexy adult sisters(Suzanne Zenor & Marianna Hill). He is not allowed to walk or talk and has been kept confined in a crib his whole life. When a social worker starts investigating, the bizarre family quickly grows suspicious of her intentions. There is a reason the social worker wants "Baby" for herself. Which is revealed in a real twist of a ending! You don't see this coming! This film contains plenty of suggested incest, physical, mental & sexual abuse & even sadism. A wild drug birthday party for "Baby" complete with the early 1970's clothes & disco music is thrown in also. This is a one-of-a-kind movie - an original. This is probally the strangest, most bizarre movie ever shown on film. A very weird movie. This film is recommended if you want to peak your curiosity.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: 4 Stars for the Censord Version
Comment: The first time I seen this film, I caught it on the late, late show (remember those?) when I was about 11. I never forgot it, and neither will anyone else who enjoys , disdurbing movies from the early 70's.

I believe this version, which is censord, is the same one that was aired on tv many years ago. In the passed few years I bought the older uncensord version, which has more scenes and explains more of how, and why this man could never matured any further than a baby. And a somewhat important part relavent to the ending of the film.

If I never veiwed the uncensord version, this movie would receive 5 stars. But since I have I must take one away

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Twisted
Comment: If you like your cinematic excursions laugh out loud, stark raving loony, bizarrorama howl at the moon weird, you might just find something to like with Ted Post's 1972 release "The Baby." This eerie little number is to cinema what Ed Gein is to psychopathology; it's the equivalent of dancing around on your property wearing a mask made out of bacon and singing Debbie Boone songs, or papering every wall in your house with pictures of Uncle Fester. Yes, "The Baby" is that offbeat, weird, whatever label you want to stick on it that translates as "strange." After watching the final credits roll, I pondered what I had just witnessed. The only explanation that seemed to fit is that Post and the other people associated with this film took the brown blotter at Woodstock. I think it is safe to say that this movie never had a chance of getting a coveted Oscar nomination or any other significant award. The only place that might see fit to recognize this film would be an insane asylum.

As "The Baby" starts, we learn that social worker Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) has decided to accept one of the strangest assignments of her career. She will begin visiting the Wadsworth residence a few times a week in order to monitor that family's treatment of their infant son. The clan consists of the husky voiced, chain-smoking mother (played with a nod and a wink by an aging Ruth Roman), two gorgeous yet snotty sisters named Alba and Germaine, and Baby. Nothing too odd here, except Baby is actually a full grown man who cannot speak, walk, or take care of himself. Baby spends most of his time in a playpen in the house or in a crib out on the lawn where he gurgles and gasps to himself and his family. Neither the mother or the sisters care much for Baby but they have to go through the motions if they want to keep those state aid checks coming in. The entire family tolerates Ann with barely contained disdain, grudgingly putting up with her frequent surprise visits. As Gentry gains a familiarity with Baby, she becomes convinced that the man-child has the capacity to learn how to speak and walk. When Comer's character becomes convinced that the Wadsworths are subtly thwarting her efforts to help Baby, she recommends the child be removed from the house. The family defies Ann at every corner, with the eventual showdown between the social worker and the Wadsworth clan turning into a surprisingly violent romp.

As weird as "The Baby" sounds from the description above, the movie gets even stranger up close and personal. A certain encounter between Baby and one of his sisters implies a behavior that is both shocking and deeply repulsive. Moreover, as time goes on we soon begin to suspect the actions of the angelic Ann Gentry. What are her motivations for the endless surprise visits to the Wadsworth house? The last social worker knew the boundaries of the job. Why can't Ann put her emotions in check? Even noticing Gentry's increasingly nosy behavior won't prepare you for the mind-shattering conclusion. That little jolt comes arcing out of the sky with the force of a thunderclap, throwing into confusion everything you thought you knew up to that point. Even better, once you watch the whole thing and remember the clues you will slap yourself on the forehead for not seeing where this one was going. Maybe it's the garish clothing or the hilarious birthday party for Baby where the décor and music is part psychedelic trip and part disco fever that prevents the viewer from keeping things in perspective. (This is 1973, remember, one of those awkward years between the hippies and "Saturday Night Fever." Yikes.)

The performances in "The Baby" are top notch. Roman believably plays the cynical matriarch of the clan, a woman so inured to the way things are that she will brook no upheavals to her family's stability from some high minded social worker. The actresses who play Alba and Germaine are two foxy gals decked out in huge hair and risqué '70's clothes. They play their parts to a T, as two nasty young ladies who know the score and are loyal to their mother up to the bitter end. Anjanette Comer does an adequate turn as Ann Gentry, conveying just the right amount of concern and hardheaded persistence over Baby's status in the Wadsworth house. She also makes the twist ending believable. Congratulations deservedly go to David Manzy in the role of Baby. This guy never utters one word in the entire picture and after awhile you really come to believe this is a twenty something year old guy who never developed past the infant stage.

The DVD doesn't really give us anything to stand up and shout about. "The Baby," perhaps more than most other films, really deserves a commentary track from some of the principal members of the cast and crew. I just want to know two things about this movie: what were you thinking and how in the heck did you manage to get a 'PG' rating for this film? This movie is so disturbing that I cringe a bit thinking about the kiddies going to see this one in the theater. If I had seen this as a youth I would have been permanently scarred. It took me years to get over the creepy commercials for the film "Magic"; I can only imagine what "The Baby" would have done to my sensibilities. In short, if you like strange, check out "The Baby."

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Downright disturbing
Comment: As the first editorial review of this film states, it's hard to really know where to begin discussing "The Baby." It's a disturbing film on so many levels...and all the ways in which it is disturbing coalesce to make it a really memorable thriller. In fact, this little thriller is so memorable, it may very well give you nightmares for a long time after you see it.

I first saw this film as a child, when it was on the "Million Dollar Movie" one Sunday afternoon. The whole strange story and really unexpected plot twists, as well as its dark and eerie denouement, stayed with me for 25 years till I rented it and watched it again. And 25 years later, "The Baby" still packs a disturbing punch.

Firstly, the whole premise is unsettling. Without getting too much into a plot summary, suffice it to say that social worker Ann Gentry (played by Anjanette Comer) has to determine the Wadsworth family's eligibility for aid. The Wadsworth family consists of Momma (a middle-aged, rough-and-tough, cigarette-smoking, miniskirt-wearing woman played by the redoubtable Ruth Roman), two adult daughters named Alba and Germaine, and one son simply called "Baby" (played by David Manzy). Throughout the whole film, we never learn what Baby's real name is, or if he even has a real name.

In any case, Ann is horrified to find that Baby is actually a young man in his twenties who wears diapers, sleeps in a crib, sucks his thumb and doesn't walk or talk. According to his mother and two adult sisters, Baby was born severely retarded and so never was able to walk, talk or develop normally in any other way. However, as time goes on Ann becomes more and more convinced that Baby is not at all retarded, but rather is a normal young man whose development has been monstrously stifled by his sick family. She becomes determined to take him from his family and care for him herself, and soon finds herself in danger from Momma, Alba and Germaine, all of whom resent what they see as Ann's "butting in".

The second thing that makes this film disturbing is the evolution of Ann's character throughout the film. As the plot unfolds, the viewer begins to gain insight into Ann's true motivations and intentions. After a narrow escape from the clutches of Momma, Alba and Germaine, Ann actually succeeds in taking Baby from his family. Momma, Alba and Germaine trace him to Ann's house and go there, determined to get him back by any means necessary (packing a gun for this purpose). I won't give away the plot twist or ending, but suffice it to say that nice, sweet Ann turns the tables on Momma, Alba and Germaine in a rather...unexpected manner. And this unexpected turn of events will stick in your mind at least for weeks, or perhaps for years.

So, in conclusion, this is a thriller that's definitely worth watching. The acting is really good all around. Ruth Roman always turns in a solid performance, and in "The Baby" she takes on her role as big bad Momma with gusto (including beating the living crap out of a babysitter with a belt when she thinks that the sitter has been getting...uh, shall we say too friendly wtih Baby). The two women who play Alba and Germaine (unfortuantely I forget their names) also turn in excellent performances, particularly Alba, who seems to relish in "correcting" Baby with blunt instruments if he tries to do anything "bad" like walk or talk. And David Manzy steals the show as Baby. You truly find yourself pitying him, especially when it seems more and more apparent that he's a normal person who's never been allowed to develop normally. This is a well-done little film that will definitely unsettle you.

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