Movie Info
Movie Name: The Devil Within Her (I Don’t Want to Be Born)
Studio: The Rank Organisation
Genre(s): Horror/B-Movie
Release Date(s): April 1975 (Paris Festival of Fantastic Films)/February 1976 (US)
MPAA Rating: R
Nothing is worse than a demon baby…except maybe a clown demon baby
Lucy and Gino Carlesi (Joan Collins and Ralph Bates) should be happy new parents but there is something wrong with their baby. The baby seems to possess great strength and an evil strength. Lucy worries her past as a burlesque performer has come back to haunt her, but as the baby’s evil grows, Lucy and Gino’s only hope could be Gino’s nun sister Albana (Eileen Atkins).
Directed by Peter Sasdy, The Devil Within Her was a horror B-Movie. The film was originally released as I Don’t Want to be Born, but has gone by other names including It’s Growing Inside Her, The Baby, The Monster, and even Sharon’s Baby. The B-Movie was met with largely negative reviews.
Joan, you really know how to pick ’em (and I’m talking about the movies)
With the release of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, demon babies were popular and everyone was cashing in…no matter if the movie was good or bad. You know you are in trouble when a movie has a ton of titles and The Devil Within Her (or whatever you want to call it) is no different.
The movie does fall into “so-bad-it-is-good” territory very quickly from Donald Pleasance’s delivery of the child “who doesn’t want to be born” to the baby attacking Judy Collins to draw blood…there is no slow burn here. The half-baked plot continues throughout the movie and involves a little person performer and a curse…it is quite laughable. The movie has one of those endings that doesn’t help at all either with both Collins and Bates dead so the exorcised baby is an orphan.
Ok…really?
Judy Collins had a knack for picking up B-Movies and this is just another in her long line of bad films. The whole cast in general were stars of bad horror films. Ralph Bates was a frequent star of Hammer Horror films and Donald Pleasence is also frequent staple in the genre. Hilary Mason was known for Don’t Look Now, and Caroline Munro also starred in multiple horror and action films of the ’70s. Eileen Atkins brings a touch of class to the film as the stereotypical nun.
The movie looks horrible too. The film primarily cuts away from the baby to shots of hands and everyone seems to still get in the baby’s face despite its tendency to bite and scratch. The movie also frequently shows flashes little person performer George Claydon as Hercules in place of the baby…which is kind of insulting to everyone.
The Devil Within Her is a bad movie that barely reaches so-bad-it-is-good and verges on the edge of just playing bad. Fortunately, the movie is short and to the point and gets going quickly…it just linger during the bulk of the film. Demon babies are scary, but this demon baby is more of a joke.
