Rating: C-
Dir: Gabrielle Beaumont
Star: Malcolm Stoddard, Cyd Hayman, Patrick Barr, Wilhelmina Green
This is a cautionary tale about the dangers posed by the traditional British reluctance to cause a fuss. One moment, you are former TV presenter Kate Marlowe (Hayman), out for a walk near your country home with your husband, Alan (Stoddard), when you meet a pregnant woman (played by Angela Pleasence, daughter of Donald). The next, the stranger is back inside your house, drinking tea and giving birth to her child, then vanishing without a trace, leaving the newborn behind. Naturally, with little more than a pursing of the lips and possibly a slight tut-tutting sound, the Marlowes adopt the child, calling her Bonnie. Which is fine, until their other kids start dying off in “accidents”.
First there’s a cot death. Then one drowns in a nearby lake (top). At this point, I’d have gone into full helicopter parent mode, not letting the little angels out of my sight. But the Marlowes approach to parenting seems to be summed up as “Well, we can always have another one,” and so the third son suffers a fatal falls in an outbuilding. That just leaves one daughter, Lucy, in addition to Bonnie, and Alan eventually becomes suspicious of their foster child. Convincing his wife, or indeed, anyone else that there are grounds for concern, is a considerably tougher proposal. This results in the couple splitting up, with Alan taking Lucy away, in what he regards as the only way to preserve his daughter’s safety. But will it?
A bit of a surprise to discover this is a Cannon production. I mean, it’s the same year they were responsible for The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood and Contamination, so this is a masterpiece of subtlety in comparison. What it isn’t, however, is particularly original, being mostly a cross between The Omen and The Bad Seed, though likely not as good as either. In particular, if you are waiting for some kind of explanation about the scenario here… keep waiting. It never shows up. The closest you get is a discussion about the breeding habits of cuckoos, likely inevitably. The lack of onscreen carnage seems to suggest it’s trying for an air of mystery: is Bonnie (Green) responsible for the deaths or not?
This might have been a more interesting direction to go, with the father and others questioning Alan’s own sanity. Instead, there’s never any real question that, yes, she’s a little psychopath, who simply waits until Mummy and Daddy aren’t around, before swinging into action. While there are moments where this devil child does manage to generate a certain frisson – Green can deliver a good glower – it’s far too genteel, restrained and, yes, damn English for its own good. This would have benefited from a large helping of giallo-based madness to propel proceedings forward. Instead, there are reasons this is one of the least-known among the productions of Golan-Globus, not receiving any DVD release until 2013. Some films should probably stay forgotten.