Baby Love

Luci, she is a slutty 15 year old English schoolgirl who comes home one day from school to find her Mum as dead as a door knob in the tub. You see her Mum has cut her wrists. Fortunately for Luci, her Mum's childhood friend is now a very successful upper-middle class doctor who has decided to take Luci home to his family (on a trial basis). And the seduction begins.

It's a very slow and boring movie, but apparently some reviewers really get off on seeing an underage girl involved in these shenanigans. -- including stripping. I don't.

I watched this mostly because I wanted to see Diana Dors who oddly is in the film for 2 seconds and has no lines!

The underage girl went on to doing some Hammer horror movies and sex romp films.

If you saw Pretty Poison, you know the plot of this movie. They are roughly the same film, only Dew Barrymore isn't as attractive.

Frankly, I would have rather seen Taste the Blood of Dracula than this one.

Surprisingly good and whilst not a major work, a most interesting and involving film from that sunny 1968 with appropriately colourful and short skirts and dresses. Basically exploitation this is not, however, without thought but now is it steeped in moralising as the British film of the time tended to be. Indeed, although the plot here concerns the dropping of a highly sexed and vulnerable 15 year old into a well off family situation where the father once went out with the girl's mother it is dealt with in a refreshingly reasonable manner. Nevertheless there are various hints and incidents of rape and incest along the way as this goes from bad to bad but always with a smile. Not much smiling from Keith Barron who seems to not be enjoying his part here at all. For the rest it is a different story and Linda Hayden excels as the British Lolita with more than an eye for the men, and women. It is an impressive and nuanced performance and no wonder at all that she went on to further movies. It is also a credit to all involved that it was possible to get such a performance out of the youngster. Dick Emery just about controls himself in a small but exuberant role and overall this is a most watchable film very much of the moment that certainly could not be made today.

Baby Love emerges as a curiously uneven psychological drama that attempts to navigate the treacherous waters of adolescent trauma and sexual awakening, yet struggles to find its footing between exploitation and genuine character study. The film's 1969 sensibilities feel both dated and strangely prescient, capturing the moral ambiguity of late-60s Britain while grappling with themes that remain uncomfortable decades later.

The cinematography exhibits a workmanlike competence without ever ascending to true artistry. Reid employs conventional framing and lighting that serves the narrative adequately but lacks the visual poetry one might expect from a film dealing with such psychologically complex material. The domestic interiors feel authentically middle-class and suffocating, which works in the film's favor, though the exterior shots possess a pedestrian quality that undermines the film's dramatic tension. The color palette remains muted and uninspired, reflecting the emotional restraint of the characters but offering little visual intrigue for the viewer.

Linda Hayden delivers a committed performance as the troubled teenage protagonist, managing to convey both vulnerability and manipulative cunning without veering into caricature. Her portrayal captures the genuine confusion and rage of a young woman processing grief and displacement, though the script occasionally forces her into situations that feel more exploitative than psychologically authentic. Diana Dors provides solid support as the conflicted mother figure, bringing a world-weary gravitas to her role that elevates the material around her. The supporting cast, including Keith Barron and Ann Lynn, inhabits their roles with professional competence, though none manage to transcend the somewhat schematic nature of their characters.

The film's atmosphere oscillates between genuine psychological insight and uncomfortable voyeurism. Reid demonstrates moments of directorial sensitivity, particularly in scenes depicting the protagonist's internal struggles, but these instances are undermined by sequences that feel designed primarily to titillate rather than illuminate. The pacing suffers from this tonal inconsistency, with the narrative momentum frequently interrupted by extended sequences that add little to our understanding of the characters or their motivations. The dialogue occasionally achieves naturalistic authenticity but too often descends into melodramatic territory that weakens the film's credibility.

While Baby Love tackles genuinely challenging subject matter about trauma, class dynamics, and sexual awakening, it lacks the courage of its convictions. The film hints at deeper psychological truths but rarely commits to exploring them fully, instead settling for surface-level provocations that feel hollow upon reflection. The ending arrives without the emotional catharsis that the preceding drama seems to promise, leaving viewers with a sense of incompleteness rather than resolution.

Most of the films about "Swinging London' celebrated the joys and colors of the time. "Baby Love", while it was made during the heyday of "Swinging London", deals with the story of an adolescent girl called Luci, and London serves just a background for Luci and the other characters around her. The characters and their environment are portrayed with a documentary feel - they are shown in a realistic way.

Luci, one day, on returning home, finds her mother dead. A great shock! For Luci there are not many choices. Her future looms black. But her mother, before killing herself, had sent a letter to a doctor who in the past had been her lover, and where she asks him to take care of her daughter Luci. The doctor is now a married man with wife, son and maid - in short, a well-off family.

The doctor brings Luci (Linda Hayden, who was only 15 at the time) to his home. At first she seems just a bewildered, shy girl, but it won't take long till they discover other sides of Luci's personality.

Luci needs love and protection, and for her, love and sex are not very apart. She is manipulative (but not consciously so), yet she acts by instinct - she's a bundle of contradictions, a very complex character. She'll use her powers of seduction on all members of the family, everything is turned upside down and masks fall.

In some ways, "Baby Love" reminded me of "Teorema" by Pasolini, but while "Teorema" is a mystical-political parable, "Baby Love" has her feet on the ground.

The creativity linked to reality, the freedom of the camera, Luci's sensuality/sexuality (there are even some bits of nudity), the nonjudgemental way of showing the characters, make "Baby Love" a very interesting film. It's a pity though that (as far as I know) the only available copies have soft (a bit washed out) colors. Anyway the film is very watchable. Well worth checking out.

Essentially this is the British version of LOLITA, and just as moderately shocking as it must have been upon first release. I've always been a fan of Linda Hayden for her work in the horror field and she's every bit as good here, really investing her character with a sympathy that exists even in devilish turns like her one in BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW. The film explores burgeoning teenage sexuality in a stark and sometimes provocative way, also looking at trauma, marriage and lust at times; the focus on characte relationships is what makes it engrossing. It's well acted and well shot too. Seen today it's a fitting portrait of the predatory nature of the era.