The Child (1977)

The Child

Alternate Titles: Kill and Go Hide
La casa degli zombi
Zombie Child

1977
Country: USA
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075838/

Directed by Robert Voskanian

Staring Laurel Barnett
Rosalie Cole
Frank Janson

By the end of 70's the grindhouse theatres where starting to the plod down to their eventual decline and disintegration, thanks in part of the video craze of the 80's. Drive-in theatres where playing similar material, but much of the same forces were working behind the scene to also bring that era to an end. "The Child" came out in late 70's and it was basically a low budget zombie gore film with a nod to “The Turn of the Screw” (the 1898 Henry James novella) in the setup.

Alicianne Del Mar is brought in as a care giver to a troubled young girl named Rosalie. Rosalie has just lost her mother and since her father is distance and quite frankly insane she becomes prey to the will unexplained supernatural forces, or possibly the other way around. People she holds responsible for the death of her mom start getting picked off at the mid point of the movie. Interestingly the mother's death is left slightly ambiguous, but the woman's former mental state seems to be a prime concern.

Made on a “questionable” salary “The Child” is shot almost entirely with short cuts and edited together, much like “Manos the Hands of Fate,” though here there is much more skill on display.

“The Child” in many ways is almost a perfect display of the late 70's American splatter movies. The world, situations and characters constructed are at best illogically surreal. Atmospheric dreamlike imagery precedes any form coherent storytelling. Everything from dancing scarecrows, to a constant barrage of cemetery fog, to moving Jack-O-Laturns take up the screen time until the zombies arrival in the final 20 minutes. This should be enough to appeal to a certain segment of viewers and repulse the rest.

I have developed quite a fondness for the movie, but in no way could anyone pretend it's a good movie. An entertaining movie perhaps for those looking for the kind of illogical atmosphere you felt as a child roaming the dark streets on Halloween night in search for hardened corn syrup.

The acting is horrendous - with some exceptions - and although the heroine strikes the perfect state of lovely 70's womanhood for most of the movie she breaks down into annoying screaming and weakness by the end. To be fair this more due to her dubbing then her acting.

The climax while really good has very little pay off and the music is a mix mash of piano and synthesizer notes. Some of the most effective moments of the movie break down into full on silliness, ie. the death of a certain neighbour.

Despite all these concerns this is an interesting movie in it's lack of coherency and it's focus on the kind of nightmarish unreality one would write in their dream journal (I would not be surprised if that is where the script was actually developed). Also despite some slow parts it does deliver what would be a very excellent climax if it wasn't for the annoying screaming.

Even if one doesn't like the movie it should be interesting to them as a time capsule for a style of guerrilla horror films who's unseen decline was starting to close in.