CAST: Joan Collins (Lucy Carlesi), Eileen Atkins (Sister Albana), Ralph Bates (Gino Carlesi), Donald Pleasence (Dr. Finch), Caroline Munro (Mandy Gregory), Hilary Mason (Mrs. Hyde), John Steiner (Tommy Morris), Janet Key (Jill Fletcher), George Claydon (Hercules). Directed by Peter Sasdy.
SYNOPSIS: In a London hospital, Lucy Carlesi experiences a difficult birth but produces a rather large and strong baby boy. Her attempts to bond with the baby are unsuccessful as he immediately scratches up her face and sucks her blood from his fingers. Lucy’s husband Gino discusses this with Dr. Finch (Donald Pleasence) and is told that it is nothing more than the baby’s survival instinct. Back at home, Lucy continues to have trouble with the baby and relates her concerns to her friend Mandy who works as a stripper at a club, where Lucy also used to work as a stripper. Lucy believes that the problems with her baby are related to a curse that a dwarf named Hercules placed on her when she spurned his advances. Gino’s sister Albana, who just happens to be a nun, comes to London to visit and when she see the new baby, she becomes suspicious when the baby screams in agony while blessing him. When the baby struggles with the priest during his baptism, Lucy and Gino realize that something is very wrong and begin searching for answers. Albana then convinces Dr. Finch to take the baby in for observation at the hospital which will give Lucy and Gino a much-needed break. But the baby has other plans and begins a violent and deadly string of attacks on everyone who comes into contact with him. No one is spared from the horrific attacks until Albana resorts to performing an exorcism on the baby that breaks the curse.
COMMENTARY: Known by a slew of different titles like I Don’t Want to be Born and Sharon’s Baby, the plot for The Devil Within Her was obviously inspired by two of the biggest blockbusters of all time — Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), both of which opened a floodgate of similar films in the 1970s concerning the Devil and his influence on infants, children, and adults. A number of articles reported on this phenomenon with one example declaring, “If you care about the welfare of films, of women and little boys, these movies, to say nothing of the dozens of sequels already planned, represents a long step sideways onto the soft shoulders of puerility.” [106] As a result, the low budget Gothic horror films of the previous generation faded away in favor of Hollywood big budget adaptations, although some low budget adaptations like I Don’t Want to be Born still made the rounds. While somewhat campy, The Devil Within Her does have its creepy moments, such as when Lucy realizes that her own baby may be out to do her in. The cast does their job well and the attempt by Ralph Bates to mimic an Italian accent is quite amusing. The plot involving the Devil, strippers (including nude scenes for Joan Collins), and a dwarf is certainly exploitative and failed to impress the critics — “The film is a smear to dwarfs everywhere.” [107]
Acting as the good doctor who brings the demonic baby into the unsuspecting world, Pleasence portrays a man of medicine who will not accept supernatural explanations for the bizarre events occurring in the Carlesi household. When Lucy continues to complain of the baby’s violent behavior, Dr. Finch responds by telling her that she should seek out psychiatric help. It takes a meeting of the minds when Sister Albana comes to plead the Carlesi’s case to convince Dr. Finch to take the baby in for a series of tests at the hospital. This is the film’s best scene with Sister Albana’s spiritualism coming into direct opposition with Dr. Finch’s modern medicine. They argue back and forth about the possibility of an inherent evil but end with a compromise via Finch telling Albana that she would make a great doctor and Albana telling Finch that he would make a horrible nun.