Peter Sasdy

Riding the wave of early '70s Satanic shockers, this half-hearted devil-baby effort is a pretty feeble and lacklustre affair. The daft screenplay by Stanley Price (from a story by Nato De Angeles) sees ex-stripper Lucy (Joan Collins) giving birth to a twelve pound baby - no wonder obstetrician, Dr. Finch (Donald Pleasence) reckoned the baby didn't want to born! Back home Lucy becomes increasingly scared of the child and cannot get husband Gino (Ralph Bates) to take her fears seriously. She confides in her friend and fellow stripper Mandy (Caroline Munro) that on her last day at the strip club that her fellow performer, dancing midget Hercules (George Claydon), had tried it on with her. When she spurned his advances Hercules screamed at her, "You shall have a devil child" before running off, leaving Lucy now convinced that her baby is the spawn of Satan. When Gino's nun sister Albana (Eileen Atkins) arrives on the scene and characters begin to disappear around the baby, it looks as there may be something to Lucy's devil baby story after all. Directed by Peter Sasdy, whose approach suggests boredom and annoyance with the ridiculous storyline. The pace is leaden and the horror scenes are pitiful, with the "baby attack" sequences being particularly inept and hopelessly constructed. It may have helped if the baby was made to look at least a touch malign; instead the filmmakers appear to have used the cutest little tyke they could find. Sasdy tries to perk things up by throwing a number of pointless and gratuitous stripper sequences into the mix, which do little for the overall pace or atmosphere of the piece. On the up side both Joan Collins and Caroline Munro pop up in brief stocking and suspenders sequences, which (sadly) was the only real hint of excitement in the entire picture. Both Collins and Munro do okay with hopeless roles and luckily for Ralph Bates (and his dodgy Italian accent) he manages to disappear half way through the film. Ron Grainer (of Dr Who fame) provides a soundtrack that can best be described as '70s Euro porn, which for long stretches was the only point of interest on offer.… (more)

Riding the wave of early '70s Satanic shockers, this half-hearted devil-baby effort is a pretty feeble and lacklustre affair. The daft screenplay by Stanley Price (from a story by Nato De Angeles) sees ex-stripper Lucy (Joan Collins) giving birth to a twelve pound baby - no wonder obstetrician, Dr. Finch (Donald Pleasence) reckoned the baby didn't want to born! Back home Lucy becomes increasingly scared of the child and cannot get husband Gino (Ralph Bates) to take her fears seriously. She confides in her friend and fellow stripper Mandy (Caroline Munro) that on her last day at the strip club that her fellow performer, dancing midget Hercules (George Claydon), had tried it on with her. When she spurned his advances Hercules screamed at her, "You shall have a devil child" before running off, leaving Lucy now convinced that her baby is the spawn of Satan. When Gino's nun sister Albana (Eileen Atkins) arrives on the scene and characters begin to disappear around the baby, it looks as there may be something to Lucy's devil baby story after all. Directed by Peter Sasdy, whose approach suggests boredom and annoyance with the ridiculous storyline. The pace is leaden and the horror scenes are pitiful, with the "baby attack" sequences being particularly inept and hopelessly constructed. It may have helped if the baby was made to look at least a touch malign; instead the filmmakers appear to have used the cutest little tyke they could find. Sasdy tries to perk things up by throwing a number of pointless and gratuitous stripper sequences into the mix, which do little for the overall pace or atmosphere of the piece. On the up side both Joan Collins and Caroline Munro pop up in brief stocking and suspenders sequences, which (sadly) was the only real hint of excitement in the entire picture. Both Collins and Munro do okay with hopeless roles and luckily for Ralph Bates (and his dodgy Italian accent) he manages to disappear half way through the film. Ron Grainer (of Dr Who fame) provides a soundtrack that can best be described as '70s Euro porn, which for long stretches was the only point of interest on offer.… (more)