The Baby: Ted Post

During my tenure as a film buff, I have seen some truly gross, disturbing, and offensive things. I've seen countless decapitations, lurid and perverse sex scenes, and death scenes that could make a mortician's stomach churn. And yet nothing that I have ever seen before has creeped me out as powerfully and effectively as Ted Post's The Baby. See, I made a discovery while watching Dušan Makavejev's Sweet Movie (1974): I am grossed out by diaper fetishists. Oh, I don't hold anything against them, mind you. We all have our own hangups and whatnot. It's just that seeing a grown human wearing a diaper and acting like a baby for some reason hurts my soul. And so it's no surprise that The Baby was one of the most uncomfortable viewing experiences of my life. The film is about a social worker who investigates a family with a twenty-something mentally disabled man who still acts like a baby. She correctly assumes that the family (comprised of women) is abusing the "baby" as a method for venting their anger and frustration against other men in their lives. And so, the social worker attempts to steal him away from them. But everything is not how it seems. It turns out that "baby" may be in even more trouble with the "social worker" than with his actual family. The film is admittingly well made. Ruth Roman's performance of Mrs. Wadsworth, the cruel and sinister matriarch of "baby's" family, evokes an aging Bette Davis. The film captures that queer atmosphere of late 60s and 70s thrillers such as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Sentinel (1977) wherein supposedly picturesque and modern societies masks disturbing undercurrents of evil. So, like I said, it's a good film. But it isn't one that I plan on watching again anytime soon. *shiver*

7/10