I Don't Want to Be Born (1975)
Director: Peter Sasdy
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Sasdy, once thought by many to be the great black hope for British horror films, here turned in - aptly enough - an abortion. Comparing unfavourably with It's Alive (made the previous year), it is both derivative and disastrous in every respect: a poor idea (Joan Collins gives birth to a big baby possessed by a devil whose medium is a dwarf she once spurned), an abominable screenplay by Stanley Price ('I keep getting these awful premonitions'), ludicrous acting (poor Eileen Atkins as an Italian nun), and worst of all, Sasdy's direction. The market for this film must have been planned as the Continent or the States, because almost every foot of film not concerned with the baby is travelogue at its most banal - extraneous shots of Westminster and Oxford Street, plugs for Fortnum & Mason and Holiday Inns. Completing this sorry tale of rip-off is borrowing from The Exorcist, Hilary Mason from Don't Look Now, and any number of details from Amicus, Hammer and Swinging London horrors. Give it a wide berth.Author: AN
Cast & crew
Director: Peter Sasdy
Producer: Norma Corney
Cast: Joan Collins, Eileen Atkins, Donald Pleasence, Ralph Bates, Caroline Munro, Hilary Mason full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 94 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations











What do you think?
Post your review now