Rish's Reviews
I caught this on television one afternoon, and was more than halfway into it before I realized that it was a--gasp!--TV movie. I pray it wasn't made for the Lifetime Network. I fear it may well have been--I'd never forgive myself. But hey, don't cast stones, it dealt with a Horror-type topic, I'd never seen it or heard of it before, and it starred the super hot Kim Delaney (and was executive produced by someone with the same name). It also featured Matthew Lillard, who's done his share of Horror.
So Delaney moves into a new apartment and finds life difficult. But after she becomes involved with a mysterious stranger, things begin to change. But not for the better. Why doesn't she just move? I don't know, I didn't write it. But eventually we find out that Delany's mother made a pact a few years back (it's all perfectly logical: if God won't save your child, perhaps the Devil will), and the child she is carrying has a royal pedigree . . . its father's the Prince of Darkness.
The idea was a sort of modern variation on Rosemary's Baby. It's also rather Omen-esque. And the idea is pretty cool, in a cheap sort of way. It had practically no special effects, but a lot of people die--by accident, suicide, overdose, etc. It featured a neat concept: as a Satanic gift, if Delany wishes someone dead, they die. One update on Rosemary's Baby is that this time, the girl CHOOSES to have sex with the Devil. See what women's lib has wrought, folks? At least this one doesn't make the Devil totally glamorous, as most films of this sort are wont to do. In this show, he's something of a tool.
The Devil's Child was not great, but alright. For a TV movie, it's not bad. It was fairly well written and well acted, but on the other hand, it was talky as hell (I drew so many demons and evil symbols on my Skull sheet it probably could've passed for a page of my notes in high school). It didn't offer many scares, and certainly didn't improve on Polaski's classic. But it was a film my mother would've liked. After all, the circumstances of my birth were very similar.
Best Scare: Babies scare me, as I've mentioned. But normal people probably won't be frightened by anything here.