‘Let’s play hide and go kill…!’
The Child is a 1977 horror film about a newly-hired housekeeper who arrives to her employer’s house in the countryside. She slowly discovers that the only child in the house, an eleven-year-old girl, hides a deadly secret. Re-released as Zombie Child.
The movie was directed by Robert Voskanian from a screenplay by Ralph Lucas (Zipperface; Planet of Dinosaurs). The Panorama Films production stars Laurel Barnett, Rosalie Cole, Frank Janson and Richard Hanners.
Rob Wallace (Memorial Day) composed a particularly dramatic piano score which was juxtaposed with Michael Quatro’s synth sounds.
Plot:
In a remote rural community, newly-hired housekeeper Alicianne Del Mar is alarmed to discover that her boss’s eleven year-old daughter is using her supernatural powers to take revenge on the people she holds responsible for her mother’s death, with the aid of her flesh-eating zombie ‘friends’…
“While the artificial style is interesting at first, its lack of subtlety makes it increasingly unwelcome. At least half the movie depicts two people sitting or wandering alone in the dark with weird sounds in the background and the aforementioned music blaring around them. Two or three times is effective, but half the movie? […] Still, some of the foggy forests and re-yellow glowing colors are enjoyably creepy.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers book
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“It has a beguiling deranged amateur feel, unleashing a cache of scary cadavers in the last twenty minutes and packing the rest of the running time with strange music, wild camera angles and warped acting. It has that unpredictable quality you find in the best seventies exploitation, where weird digressions and non sequiturs lurk at every turn.” Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA book
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“The film manages to generate some interest with a decent makeup effect of a victim’s half-torn face, but it’s too little too late. The blaringly loud music seems to be thrown in at random, and there’s a general incoherence to the story. Poorly lit […], badly edited, and ineptly produced, this film was made to be forgotten.” Glenn Kay, Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, book
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Cast and characters;
Laurel Barnett … Alicianne Del Mar
Rosalie Cole … Rosalie Nordon
Frank Janson … Nordon
Richard Hanners … Len Nordon
Ruth Ballan … Mrs Elizabeth Whitfield (as Ruth Ballen)
Jong Slosson Bing Jong … Gardener
Rod Medigovich … Priest / Creature
Wendell Hudiburg … Pallbearer
Chris Tieken … Jefferson
Ralph Lucas … Creature
Jim Dickson … Creature
Chick Cavanaugh … Creature
Anoosh Avan … Creature
Technical specs:
85 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1:85:1
Eastmancolor
Audio: mono
Production:
Filming began October 1, 1973, on location in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, with working titles Children of the Night and Child of the Living Dead. Additional scenes were shot from 5 October 1976 when the movie was picked up for distribution by Harry H. Novak. It was released in March 1977.
Trailer:
Free online on YouTube [1080p]:
Free online on YouTube [720p]:
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