Thursday, July 24, 2008

Caroline Munro Tribute Week: Far Out Films From The Seventies (I Don't Want to be Born)


I wish I could report that one for Caroline's hardest to see films from the seventies, 1975's I Don't Want to be Born, is some sort of lost cult classic but unfortunately the film is fairly dreadful despite some stylish direction from Peter Sasdy and an atmospheric (if not altogether appropriate score) from Ron Grainer.
The film, known under several titles including The Devil Within Her and The Monster, is an uneasy mixture of Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and It's Alive that is severaly hampered by a very poor script by Stanley Price and a tiresome lead performance by Joan Collins.
Concerning a murderous newborn possessed by an angry jilted dwarf, I Don't Want To Be Born goes beyond stretching credibility into the realms of sheer jaw dropping ridiculousness. If your looking for a film where Donald Pleasence gets beheaded by a crazed little bundle of joy then I Don't Want To Be Born is for you but even a devout lover of the fantastic (like myself) will have trouble swallowing much of the 89 minute running time this films offers up.
Caroline only appears in a few scenes and she possesses such a naturalness compared to Collin's annoyingly overbearing performance that it's a shame the producers didn't have the good sense to cast her in the lead instead of Joan.
The film possesses a certain watchability and it's worth seeking out for at least one viewing if you are fan of Caroline's or British horror in the seventies but don't expect much as there is a reason I Don't Want to be Born has slipped into relatively obscurity...it just simply isn't very good.

3 comments:

Keith said...

It's not a great film, but I looked for the positive in it I guess. lol I do love British horror. I also love Caroline. I'm a big fan of Joan Collins. She did a lot of really bad movies in the 70's before Dynasty came along.

Jeremy Richey said...

Thanks Keith...didn't do much for me but I am glad you enjoyed it. Perhaps I was a bit hard on it...

Steve Langton said...

Can recall seeing this on a double bill at the flicks (I'm fairly certain it was teamed up with The Ghoul)and as a impressionable teen (who really shouldn't have been allowed in at that age) I think I enjoyed it. However, time has not been kind to this film.