Director Ted Post has an interesting list of credits to his name. He has directed some films that can be considered very well made and were box-office successes like the Clint Eastwood vehicles Hang ‘Em High and Magnum Force and the critical favorite Go Tell The Spartans. But he has also directed some real oddball flicks like the loco Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, the sexual revolution drama The Harrad Experiment and the Elliott Gould anti-war comedy Whiffs. The Baby may be the most bizarre film in his crazy filmography and may in fact be one of the weirdest American films ever made.
Released in 1973 and starring Anjanette Comer (The Loved One) and Ruth Roman (Strangers On A Train), the film concerns a social worker with a husband recovering from an accident. She gets assigned to a family consisting of a mother and two daughters who appear deeply disturbed and a grown man called “Baby” who is basically a full-grown infant. He wears diapers, spends most of the time in a crib, crawls on all fours and can’t talk. Unaware of the family’s violent tendencies the social worker tries to convince them to allow her to take Baby to a learning center but they accuse her of trying to steal Baby away. As she tries to sway the family with threats of county legal action, things get weirder.
The cast is well chosen and certainly plays up the creepiness of the piece with Roman in particular pushing the limit. Her performance is a standout in capturing all that is wrong with the human race. David Manzy does a disturbingly effective job of portraying Baby and is a little too convincing in the role. Marianna Hill and Suzanne Zenor round out the female dominant family as Roman’s daughters and effectively keep up with the Addams Family meets Manson trailer trash of horror vibe. The ever-dependable Michael Pataki turns in a fun bit as a sleazy pothead lothario. Comer carries the film like a champ and guides it to a most satisfying and bizarre end. The disc looks great and during Baby’s birthday party scene the colors pop like a hillbilly version of Suspiria. Extras include interviews with cast and crew plus archival interviews with director Post.
