Religious horror is having a moment.
It’s interesting because horror is cyclical. We’ve seen religious horror—ala possession films, films about demons, and movies about the devil—come and go. Each decade has its spate of them, and we are definitely in the middle of ours.
It makes sense in that the fear that an outside intelligence, an evil that opposes all things good, can whisper into your ear and find the cracks in your soul and temp you is horrifying. The idea that you can be tricked into something that may seem small but may damn your soul is scary. The devil speaks with a honeyed tongue and a pretty face. Who of us has no sin the devil cannot speak to or take advantage of?
THE BABY IN THE BASKET finds us in a monastery full of nuns desperate to hear the voice of god but struggling to stay true to their vows. As World War II rages, the nuns are alone save for an aged caretaker and his young assistant. The assistant is a man who is full of lust and a haunted past, and he struggles with his urges and his sense of duty. One evening, a baby in a basket is left outside of the monastery with no note or any sign of whose baby it may be. Even without knowing who the mother of the child is or why he is on their doorstep, the nuns take in the child, intending to make sure that it is safe and cared for until they can get more answers. One of the nuns begins to hear a voice whispering to her that the child has been brought to them by the devil and that she must serve it. When she tries to tell the other nuns this, they become convinced she has gone mad and is dangerous. Something strange is happening, though, and it seems that one way or another, the devil has come to St. Augustine.
I can’t give enough credit to the filmmakers because, on what appears to be a very low budget, they made a sincere film that wrings every ounce of tension out of things that they can. The performances are good, the monastery is moody and creepy, and it’s an interesting story. There is an aspect here of a classic Hammer picture on a smaller budget. It needed a little more of the gothic, but it’s that sort of a film.
As interesting as it is, the story just can’t keep up with the ideas here. The plot gets confusing, the story is a bit contrived, and there are special effects toward the end that totally took me out of the film. They’re too heavy-handed, and instead of hinting at something, they go all-in and the budget just wasn’t there to make it work for me.
This is a decent enough movie but one that doesn’t do anything new or different and doesn’t set itself apart from the rest of a very crowded room of devilish films. If you can catch it, give it a chance. Everyone in the film is dialed in and giving all they can. The sets are great. They get some good atmosphere and there is some palpable tension. As things come together though, I just wasn’t sold, so alas, in this case, the devil goes home unhappy.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26594761/
2.5 out of 5
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 