36 reviews
I actually enjoyed and admired The Suckling in some ways. The plot and the tone of the film are both absurd and disturbing--two properties that I love in artworks. It possesses one of the most important qualities for a film to have--passion from the cast and crew to do something artistically interesting. On the other hand, The Suckling is marred by horrendous performances and a fair amount of technical incompetence.
Humorously, the film begins with scrolling text implying that The Suckling is based on a true story. It tells of an unsolved massacre in a "whorehouse and abortion clinic", and suggests that the filmmakers, such as director Francis Teri, believe the account of the sole survivor of the massacre--a woman whom the authorities believed to be insane. From there, we cut to a surreal sequence where a woman is accosted in bed and taken to a seedy hospital, complete with a topless nurse walking down the corridor with a bloody axe. Sadly, this turns out to be one of those "this was all just a dream" openings. We then change gears to a young couple. We quickly figure out that they are visiting the whorehouse/abortion clinic. The film shows us the "true story" of the massacre.
The story is set in the early 1970s. The quality of the film (meaning the physical quality of the actual material this was shot on) and various other visual cues all say "early 70s". However, the film's publication date was 1990, and there are other visual cues (such as some clothing and hair styles) that set The Suckling firmly in the late 1980s. The crux of the story is that the protagonist is visiting an illegal abortion clinic, which explains why the film would be set in the early 1970s--prior to Roe v. Wade (1973), but this emphasizes two very unusual aspects of this film. One, it's a very low budget independent "grindhouse"-styled horror flick that happens to be written and directed as a period film, and two, it very subtly, though inexpertly, captures its period. Those are indications of a concern for a subtler artistry that isn't usually attributed to this film.
The abortion stuff could be seen as having a moral/political subtext. Although the graphic scenes are ridiculously humorous in one respect, they're also unsettling. Abortion is shown as a pretty nasty business, but on the other hand, this is an illegal abortion clinic, and Teri could be seen as making the argument that if abortion is made illegal again--even though abortion is disturbing--people are still going to get abortions in places like this. When we consider that subtext, it makes more sense that The Suckling was written and filmed during the Reagan era in the U.S., a time when the "Moral Majority" gave it their best shot to turn the country into a fundamentalist Christian theocracy.
The overall tone of the film is often close to Frank Henenlotter's early work, such as Basket Case (1982); it has that same heavy 1970s subculture-grime feel. That's one of the assets of the film, as are the creature and other special effects, which are also reminiscent of Henenlotter, who is fond of twisted, darkly comic and ironic "morality plays".
I'm a huge Henenlotter fan. I don't think his films are "so bad they're good", I think they're often legitimate masterpieces. Both Basket Case and Frankenhooker (1990) are among my favorite films of all time. Even though The Suckling does a fair job creating a rough Henenlotter-styled atmosphere, it falls far short of his excellence, primarily because of the performances, the scriptwriting and the awkwardness of many of the technical elements, such as the editing.
Not every performance in The Suckling is awful, but too many are. Luckily, some of the worst offenders are in bit roles, such as the short doctor in the bookends. Occasionally, the performances are sublimely bad ("so bad they're good") due to a confluence of actor and script. For example, the blonde prostitute has a natural propensity for a combination of cheese and overacted melodrama, but when she utters lines like, "All these guys want to do these days is shoot their load in your face", the result is (probably unintentionally) hilarious. The script has our "heroes" flabbergasted by a gurgling toilet with a moving but closed lid ("Try jiggling the handle again" says the blonde prostitute), it has a bizarre "comic" S&M scene, and it has a lot of melodrama caused by conflicting macho attitudes from the house pimps and "bodyguards", as well as from the house madam, Big Mama, who is humorously dressed like a clown, complete with Tammy Faye Baker-styled makeup for most of the film.
Although Teri is skilled at setting up shots, he runs into problems when it comes to editing them together. The pacing is slightly but frequently off. Worse, there are a couple sections of repeated footage as padding. There is also padding in the plot. It seems like Teri had some good ideas, but had a problem stretching them out to feature length. The middle of the film devolves into a very pedestrian Ten Little Indians knock-off sequence that slows the film to a crawl. The score doesn't help, either. It's hokey at best, annoying at worst.
The principal sets/locations are also a bit unimaginative. It's a shame, because a few locations--such as the basement and the sewer--are visually intriguing and work well. Better yet is the bizarre biological stuff surrounding the house. That should have been used more, but it was probably way too expensive to do. The Evil Dead-like stop motion animation should have been dropped instead.
Of course, you shouldn't bother with The Suckling unless you have a well-developed taste for this particular kind of low budget, campy but disturbing, taboo-breaking horror. If you like that stuff, there's a good chance you've at least heard about this film. You might not love it, but it's worth a look.
Humorously, the film begins with scrolling text implying that The Suckling is based on a true story. It tells of an unsolved massacre in a "whorehouse and abortion clinic", and suggests that the filmmakers, such as director Francis Teri, believe the account of the sole survivor of the massacre--a woman whom the authorities believed to be insane. From there, we cut to a surreal sequence where a woman is accosted in bed and taken to a seedy hospital, complete with a topless nurse walking down the corridor with a bloody axe. Sadly, this turns out to be one of those "this was all just a dream" openings. We then change gears to a young couple. We quickly figure out that they are visiting the whorehouse/abortion clinic. The film shows us the "true story" of the massacre.
The story is set in the early 1970s. The quality of the film (meaning the physical quality of the actual material this was shot on) and various other visual cues all say "early 70s". However, the film's publication date was 1990, and there are other visual cues (such as some clothing and hair styles) that set The Suckling firmly in the late 1980s. The crux of the story is that the protagonist is visiting an illegal abortion clinic, which explains why the film would be set in the early 1970s--prior to Roe v. Wade (1973), but this emphasizes two very unusual aspects of this film. One, it's a very low budget independent "grindhouse"-styled horror flick that happens to be written and directed as a period film, and two, it very subtly, though inexpertly, captures its period. Those are indications of a concern for a subtler artistry that isn't usually attributed to this film.
The abortion stuff could be seen as having a moral/political subtext. Although the graphic scenes are ridiculously humorous in one respect, they're also unsettling. Abortion is shown as a pretty nasty business, but on the other hand, this is an illegal abortion clinic, and Teri could be seen as making the argument that if abortion is made illegal again--even though abortion is disturbing--people are still going to get abortions in places like this. When we consider that subtext, it makes more sense that The Suckling was written and filmed during the Reagan era in the U.S., a time when the "Moral Majority" gave it their best shot to turn the country into a fundamentalist Christian theocracy.
The overall tone of the film is often close to Frank Henenlotter's early work, such as Basket Case (1982); it has that same heavy 1970s subculture-grime feel. That's one of the assets of the film, as are the creature and other special effects, which are also reminiscent of Henenlotter, who is fond of twisted, darkly comic and ironic "morality plays".
I'm a huge Henenlotter fan. I don't think his films are "so bad they're good", I think they're often legitimate masterpieces. Both Basket Case and Frankenhooker (1990) are among my favorite films of all time. Even though The Suckling does a fair job creating a rough Henenlotter-styled atmosphere, it falls far short of his excellence, primarily because of the performances, the scriptwriting and the awkwardness of many of the technical elements, such as the editing.
Not every performance in The Suckling is awful, but too many are. Luckily, some of the worst offenders are in bit roles, such as the short doctor in the bookends. Occasionally, the performances are sublimely bad ("so bad they're good") due to a confluence of actor and script. For example, the blonde prostitute has a natural propensity for a combination of cheese and overacted melodrama, but when she utters lines like, "All these guys want to do these days is shoot their load in your face", the result is (probably unintentionally) hilarious. The script has our "heroes" flabbergasted by a gurgling toilet with a moving but closed lid ("Try jiggling the handle again" says the blonde prostitute), it has a bizarre "comic" S&M scene, and it has a lot of melodrama caused by conflicting macho attitudes from the house pimps and "bodyguards", as well as from the house madam, Big Mama, who is humorously dressed like a clown, complete with Tammy Faye Baker-styled makeup for most of the film.
Although Teri is skilled at setting up shots, he runs into problems when it comes to editing them together. The pacing is slightly but frequently off. Worse, there are a couple sections of repeated footage as padding. There is also padding in the plot. It seems like Teri had some good ideas, but had a problem stretching them out to feature length. The middle of the film devolves into a very pedestrian Ten Little Indians knock-off sequence that slows the film to a crawl. The score doesn't help, either. It's hokey at best, annoying at worst.
The principal sets/locations are also a bit unimaginative. It's a shame, because a few locations--such as the basement and the sewer--are visually intriguing and work well. Better yet is the bizarre biological stuff surrounding the house. That should have been used more, but it was probably way too expensive to do. The Evil Dead-like stop motion animation should have been dropped instead.
Of course, you shouldn't bother with The Suckling unless you have a well-developed taste for this particular kind of low budget, campy but disturbing, taboo-breaking horror. If you like that stuff, there's a good chance you've at least heard about this film. You might not love it, but it's worth a look.
- BrandtSponseller
- Jun 6, 2005
- Permalink
A 2?! Oh c'mon. It deserves at least a 6 for the baby effects alone, which are pretty good for such a low budget film. First of all disregard the box comments that seem to compare it to die hard or alien because its the furthest thing from that. Look at more as an above average Troma film, which is probably who should have released it in the first place. My quest to see the movie began at a flea market in Wallingford , CT where I saw a guy selling the suckling press kit with a badass "only could have been made in the 90's" T-shirt. It looked Like an all yellow local metal band shirt. I laughed and had a look and new I had to see the film. The press kit came with a small poster on which someone had written a note in marker on the back. It says" Mike, See you Friday aug. 23 midnight bleecker theatre if possible. If not there'll be bigger + better movies next. Pete." I don't know if the suckling was a CT made film, since the company who made it, JER Pictures has a Port Chester , NY address. Either way its pretty funny, or appropriate depending on your thoughts, that the poster hangs directly above my toilet. I say we need to bring on The Suckling 2: Keep on Suckling.
- canneryrowdoc
- Jul 15, 2006
- Permalink
- Leofwine_draca
- Jun 6, 2017
- Permalink
A young girl has an illegal abortion in a house of ill-repute. The foetus is flushed down the toilet and into the sewer where, nurtured by pollution and goodness-knows-what, it survives, harbouring a grudge and glowing greenly. It then sets about popping up out of the toilets and picking off one-by-one all those responsible for its sorry fate. It is aided by the fact that all those involved are the kind of people who - on being told that there is something in the bathroom making a noise like the devil incarnate - proceed to shove their heads down the pan for a really good look.
Well, I first saw this on video in the early 90's when it was on release in the UK as "Sewage Baby", and it was so awful that I have never forgotten it. There was a kernel of a good idea here, but it was made with such technical ineptitude that even the folks at MST3K would only have been able to watch in gob-smacked silence. The photography is dire. The sound appalling- there are silent gun shots, footsteps that suddenly disappear halfway down a flight of stairs and then suddenly start again. Some of the cast are obviously actors, some are just as obviously not. The special effects are of the "let's have a Halloween party in the garage" school, with lots of atmospheric net curtains. After my sides stopped aching with laughter and my jaw returned to its normal position, I was left with many unanswered questions, like; Who ARE these people? How ever did they manage to get the money and film stock to make this movie? And how on earth did they manage to get it released? If anyone knows the answers - please tell me.....
Well, I first saw this on video in the early 90's when it was on release in the UK as "Sewage Baby", and it was so awful that I have never forgotten it. There was a kernel of a good idea here, but it was made with such technical ineptitude that even the folks at MST3K would only have been able to watch in gob-smacked silence. The photography is dire. The sound appalling- there are silent gun shots, footsteps that suddenly disappear halfway down a flight of stairs and then suddenly start again. Some of the cast are obviously actors, some are just as obviously not. The special effects are of the "let's have a Halloween party in the garage" school, with lots of atmospheric net curtains. After my sides stopped aching with laughter and my jaw returned to its normal position, I was left with many unanswered questions, like; Who ARE these people? How ever did they manage to get the money and film stock to make this movie? And how on earth did they manage to get it released? If anyone knows the answers - please tell me.....
Every once in a while, a movie comes along that forces you to redefine what movies are all about. Sometimes it just looks better than everything else on the market. Sometimes it's just acted better that a lot of other movies in its genre. And sometimes it's just so different that it defies comparison to anything else. There are plenty of movies that live up to the hype and prove themselves, in retrospective articles for years to come, to be the pinnacle of film. Unfortunately, this is not it at all.
The Suckling starts off with one of the worst openings ever that has been used too many times before: The prologue for the movie reveals how many people survive! What is the point of that? I mean, in a film like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's still irritating but its placement was so that the movie retained a documentary feel. Here, it is completely pointless and ruins any surprise you may have if you pay attention.
Regardless of that, the movie begins and seems interesting enough. Sure, the acting is terrible and the filming isn't the greatest, but the story has to do with a woman being tricked by her boyfriend and some sweet drugs into getting an abortion. That's cool! The aborted fetus itself doesn't look too bad, and we get some shots of it growing eyes and nails. Soon, it begins killing people, and that's magnificent.
Unfortunately, too much of the film is bogged down by boring moments. As I've said in other reviews, most of the fun of watching a B-Movie like this is to talk about the scenes to your friends later. But there isn't much to talk about here. It's like my complaint with Bubba Ho-Tep: there was so much they could have done with this concept but they totally wasted it. If I were to do this movie, I would have had some Abortion Police come in, armed with coathangers! Instead, this is basically just like every other slasher or monster film we've seen before, except with characters you don't care about (a businessman who says "whore" a lot, a CRAZY guy who is SO CRAZY that there is no gun shot sound effect when he fires his gun, a horrible boyfriend to the main character, a bunch of prostitutes, etc).
Just not really that enjoyable and surprisingly mean-spirited. And what's up with the ending with the skeleton, the guy, and the boy?!
The Suckling starts off with one of the worst openings ever that has been used too many times before: The prologue for the movie reveals how many people survive! What is the point of that? I mean, in a film like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's still irritating but its placement was so that the movie retained a documentary feel. Here, it is completely pointless and ruins any surprise you may have if you pay attention.
Regardless of that, the movie begins and seems interesting enough. Sure, the acting is terrible and the filming isn't the greatest, but the story has to do with a woman being tricked by her boyfriend and some sweet drugs into getting an abortion. That's cool! The aborted fetus itself doesn't look too bad, and we get some shots of it growing eyes and nails. Soon, it begins killing people, and that's magnificent.
Unfortunately, too much of the film is bogged down by boring moments. As I've said in other reviews, most of the fun of watching a B-Movie like this is to talk about the scenes to your friends later. But there isn't much to talk about here. It's like my complaint with Bubba Ho-Tep: there was so much they could have done with this concept but they totally wasted it. If I were to do this movie, I would have had some Abortion Police come in, armed with coathangers! Instead, this is basically just like every other slasher or monster film we've seen before, except with characters you don't care about (a businessman who says "whore" a lot, a CRAZY guy who is SO CRAZY that there is no gun shot sound effect when he fires his gun, a horrible boyfriend to the main character, a bunch of prostitutes, etc).
Just not really that enjoyable and surprisingly mean-spirited. And what's up with the ending with the skeleton, the guy, and the boy?!
- polysicsarebest
- Dec 17, 2004
- Permalink
A sick, messed-up piece of cinema. I could barely hand on till the end, which is revealed at the beginning of the movie. Too many horrible effects and too little acting. Don't watch it. It's not even in the "so bad it's funny" category.
Hello.
Absolutely appalling. There are films that are so bad that may be a little funny to show your friends for a bit of a laugh. This isn't even that. I was in the video shop one evening, looking for a powerful, disturbing film. i came across a film i had never heard of , sewage baby. i read the back and it sounded like a serious film. i thought the film would be about the baby staying alive and growing up to get revenge. I didn't think the baby would turn into a horrendous monster and going on a killing spree.
Don't even bother watching this, totally crap.
Thank you very much,
Afollabi El-Sheikh Al Noor Mohammed
Absolutely appalling. There are films that are so bad that may be a little funny to show your friends for a bit of a laugh. This isn't even that. I was in the video shop one evening, looking for a powerful, disturbing film. i came across a film i had never heard of , sewage baby. i read the back and it sounded like a serious film. i thought the film would be about the baby staying alive and growing up to get revenge. I didn't think the baby would turn into a horrendous monster and going on a killing spree.
Don't even bother watching this, totally crap.
Thank you very much,
Afollabi El-Sheikh Al Noor Mohammed
- Diplomat1983
- Feb 18, 2004
- Permalink
Get the f!ck out of here people...1's and 2's for this film??? I'm well aware that THE SUCKLING is no great feat of exploit cinema - but this is one of the best concepts out there for sleaze and gore fans. It's a shame it wasn't pulled off more competently and with more gore, if it had, this would have been one of my favorite films of all time...
THE SUCKLING is about a guy and his girlfriend who go to a whorehouse that doubles as an illegal abortion "clinic" (?) to get rid of the unwanted bun-in-the-oven. The chick has reservations about getting rid of it, so boyfriend and the coat-hanger technician unwillingly drug the girl so she doesn't have a choice in the matter (??). After the fetus is yanked, it's flushed down the toilet (???) where it encounters some radioactive material (????) and begins to mutate(?????) (at this point I feel compelled to tell you that this is no joke, this is really the plot of the film - and the fetus-mutation scene is hilariously awesome - think the "resurrection" scene from HELLRAISER meets that weird looking baby-thing from COMBAT SHOCK...). The fetus grows into some giant goofy looking monster, puts some sort of membrane around the house so those inside can't get out...and takes it's revenge on the occupants of the whorehouse (including it's "parents") for it's mistreatment (????????????)...
I couldn't make this sh!t up if I tried...THE SUCKLING has one of the most gloriously sleazy plots I could ever hope to actually witness on screen. But with such a wonderfully insane storyline - this film actually ends up being kind of disappointing. It starts out very strong, and ends very strong - but the middle is pretty dull and uneventful. There are SOOOOOO many things that could have been done with this film (even with a micro-budget) that weren't, and there was too much sitting around and talking by the "hostages", where there really should have been more gore and sleaze. Even so, I still dug this one if only for concept alone...but nah, it wasn't just that - there are definitely some "fun" things going on in this one. Probably not to everyone's taste as most "normal" people would have no interest in watching a radiated aborted fetus kill a bunch of people - but some of us really do - so if this sorta thing's your bag, I suggest giving it the once-over...7.5/10
THE SUCKLING is about a guy and his girlfriend who go to a whorehouse that doubles as an illegal abortion "clinic" (?) to get rid of the unwanted bun-in-the-oven. The chick has reservations about getting rid of it, so boyfriend and the coat-hanger technician unwillingly drug the girl so she doesn't have a choice in the matter (??). After the fetus is yanked, it's flushed down the toilet (???) where it encounters some radioactive material (????) and begins to mutate(?????) (at this point I feel compelled to tell you that this is no joke, this is really the plot of the film - and the fetus-mutation scene is hilariously awesome - think the "resurrection" scene from HELLRAISER meets that weird looking baby-thing from COMBAT SHOCK...). The fetus grows into some giant goofy looking monster, puts some sort of membrane around the house so those inside can't get out...and takes it's revenge on the occupants of the whorehouse (including it's "parents") for it's mistreatment (????????????)...
I couldn't make this sh!t up if I tried...THE SUCKLING has one of the most gloriously sleazy plots I could ever hope to actually witness on screen. But with such a wonderfully insane storyline - this film actually ends up being kind of disappointing. It starts out very strong, and ends very strong - but the middle is pretty dull and uneventful. There are SOOOOOO many things that could have been done with this film (even with a micro-budget) that weren't, and there was too much sitting around and talking by the "hostages", where there really should have been more gore and sleaze. Even so, I still dug this one if only for concept alone...but nah, it wasn't just that - there are definitely some "fun" things going on in this one. Probably not to everyone's taste as most "normal" people would have no interest in watching a radiated aborted fetus kill a bunch of people - but some of us really do - so if this sorta thing's your bag, I suggest giving it the once-over...7.5/10
- lordzedd-3
- Aug 17, 2007
- Permalink
Sometimes, fun and blood go together. THE SUCKLING is under that rule. The plot is, of course, of clase B-films and so the FX and the actors. But the result is really funny: a little creature takes a house and its inhabitants and moves misteriously around it. The final scene is one of the more bizarre shots I have ever seen.
- bemerkungen
- Aug 19, 2001
- Permalink
Ohhhhh words can describe how i felt when i finally finished watching the movie. It was so bad when i was watching it the environment of the whorehouse made me want to puke. It was an awful try even for a b- movie. There are b-movies underrated as hell like Carnosaur (1993), The Cellar (1989) which is my favorite b-movie people hated those but i loved them much better than this sh*t. And i watched this movie in a boring winter afternoon and it ruined the whole afternoon. Then i fixed it by watching the much better Thinner (1996). Even for a b-movie fan this movie can't be watched i don't know how i managed to watch that crap.
- thanasmilios
- Apr 6, 2015
- Permalink
The Suckling is one of my favourite trashy films for many reasons. For a trashy movie it more than delivers the goods. Scenes such as the topless axe-wielding nurse, the aborted foetus sliding into the sewers and then mutating into a monster - these images will be burnt into my brain forever! Never will you see such images again in a film. The dialogue and acting is terrible but hilarious too. A few quotes: "You wouldn't know bullshit if you were standing under a bull!", "A man comes in to get his penis sucked, and gets shot off instead". The most hilarious scene is when the monster shrinks back down to foetus size - making a "ga-ga" sound - and crawls back into his mothers womb. Priceless! The Suckling is pure trashy entertainment at its best and I would recommend it to all horror b-movie fans. Ignore what everyone else has said - it's not THAT bad. Also - people continually knock the musical score, what's with that?! The opening piano music sounds so dark and haunting and fits a horror theme perfectly. I would even say that it belongs in a better film than this (by that I mean a serious horror film) because it's perfect!
This one grabbed me hard. Seriously, the first half is phenomenal-I love it. If only the whole film had kept that energy, we'd have one of the most gloriously bizarre, forgotten gems of the early '90s.
It's the story of a woman who reluctantly visits an abortion clinic, only for her fetus, mutated by chemicals, to become a vengeful creature hell-bent on destroying those responsible for its exile.
It's almost the same plot as The Aborted, that utterly vile Z-grade flick I reviewed with much ado a while back, but with a bigger budget and a much clearer storyline. The Suckling oozes '80s B-movie vibes from every pore. The first half is like a psychotronic Henenlotter fever dream with some truly unhinged sequences. It kicks off with a super catchy nightmare featuring a blood-soaked nurse and a killer dreamlike atmosphere, then dives into a weird claustrophobic setting with memorable kills (the toilet decapitation!) and body horror that echoes stuff like The Abomination. The characters are actually pretty decent-cynical as hell, with women dishing it out to men, men dishing it back, a Lionel Richie lookalike (Gerald Preger, in his only film role) who's quick with a slap, a matriarch running her clinic like a brothel, and a gallery of caricatured but effective personalities.
The big problem is the second half. It's a total dead zone, with almost no standout moments, damaging slow patches, and barely any gore. The finale brings some wild surprises, but we're talking the last 10 minutes. There's a whole chunk of the film that's just not worth caring about, and that's a damn shame. The first 30 minutes, I'll say it again, are masterful. The vibe, the madness-it's exactly what you want from this kind of production. For that, I'll keep fond memories of this film, which could've been so much crazier if it had stayed the course.
It's the story of a woman who reluctantly visits an abortion clinic, only for her fetus, mutated by chemicals, to become a vengeful creature hell-bent on destroying those responsible for its exile.
It's almost the same plot as The Aborted, that utterly vile Z-grade flick I reviewed with much ado a while back, but with a bigger budget and a much clearer storyline. The Suckling oozes '80s B-movie vibes from every pore. The first half is like a psychotronic Henenlotter fever dream with some truly unhinged sequences. It kicks off with a super catchy nightmare featuring a blood-soaked nurse and a killer dreamlike atmosphere, then dives into a weird claustrophobic setting with memorable kills (the toilet decapitation!) and body horror that echoes stuff like The Abomination. The characters are actually pretty decent-cynical as hell, with women dishing it out to men, men dishing it back, a Lionel Richie lookalike (Gerald Preger, in his only film role) who's quick with a slap, a matriarch running her clinic like a brothel, and a gallery of caricatured but effective personalities.
The big problem is the second half. It's a total dead zone, with almost no standout moments, damaging slow patches, and barely any gore. The finale brings some wild surprises, but we're talking the last 10 minutes. There's a whole chunk of the film that's just not worth caring about, and that's a damn shame. The first 30 minutes, I'll say it again, are masterful. The vibe, the madness-it's exactly what you want from this kind of production. For that, I'll keep fond memories of this film, which could've been so much crazier if it had stayed the course.
- ceddamaged
- Aug 15, 2025
- Permalink
Oh come on! "Sewage Baby" can't be the worst movie ever made. But surely it's one of the crappiest, unintentionally funny exploitation/slasher flicks from the past 20 years.
The premise can be offensive but after half an hour it gets really cheesy and easy to enjoy. We know that the parents' solution for their "mistake" is solved in a truly horrible place where there are whores and also abortion practices. So our classy couple gets rid of their unborn child but little to they know that "him" will turn into a super cheesy monster. The now monster fetus returns where he was aborted and starts a killing spree as part of his revenge.
My guess is that the producers of this movie knew only the basics of film making : they got low budget, an "original" but cheesy idea, and a resolution. The result is almost amateurish film making but with a heart. The movie is entertaining for the bad reasons. There are some things to make fun of. For example, the fetus morph into a mutant is beyond cheesy. The puppet or whatever looks really horrible. The other problem with the movie is the horrid acting. The direction is just bad but not terrible.
This isn't by any means a must see. I won't even recommend it for b-movie fans or horror fans in general. This is one of those movies that you should only see if it's the last, last option in the forgotten VHS section in a local video store.
The premise can be offensive but after half an hour it gets really cheesy and easy to enjoy. We know that the parents' solution for their "mistake" is solved in a truly horrible place where there are whores and also abortion practices. So our classy couple gets rid of their unborn child but little to they know that "him" will turn into a super cheesy monster. The now monster fetus returns where he was aborted and starts a killing spree as part of his revenge.
My guess is that the producers of this movie knew only the basics of film making : they got low budget, an "original" but cheesy idea, and a resolution. The result is almost amateurish film making but with a heart. The movie is entertaining for the bad reasons. There are some things to make fun of. For example, the fetus morph into a mutant is beyond cheesy. The puppet or whatever looks really horrible. The other problem with the movie is the horrid acting. The direction is just bad but not terrible.
This isn't by any means a must see. I won't even recommend it for b-movie fans or horror fans in general. This is one of those movies that you should only see if it's the last, last option in the forgotten VHS section in a local video store.
- insomniac_rod
- Aug 18, 2006
- Permalink
well. you may guess I was being sarcastic. This is probably the worst film I have ever seen. Sewage Baby is ridicule in its purest form, with awful plot, inconsistent characters, poor editing and a puppet that could have come straight from a cereal packet.. in fact I think it did. oh dear, I don't feel I will recommend this film to anyone but those with a very odd sense of humour, or those who really have no idea about film. Vaguely good idea, yet fails to take off in the slightest. I hope you are not one of those actors...
- OptimisticMe
- Jan 24, 2002
- Permalink
- Foreverisacastironmess123
- May 26, 2012
- Permalink
- kapetandzonpiplfoks
- Feb 5, 2021
- Permalink
A woman goes to a back alley abortion clinic, the baby is flushed to the sewer, where it encounters some toxic sludge, and is "reborn" as a mutant with murder on its mind.
With such a great sleazy, trashy concept, it has to be hilariously bad-but-good, right? Uh...no.
The most offensive thing about The Suckling is how boring it becomes.
With such a great sleazy, trashy concept, it has to be hilariously bad-but-good, right? Uh...no.
The most offensive thing about The Suckling is how boring it becomes.
- Lebowskidoo
- May 18, 2019
- Permalink
A pregnant, unnamed girl (Lisa Petruno) goes to an illegal abortion clinic in Brooklyn that doubles as a brothel. However, her aborted fetus rapidly mutates once in the sewer, and returns to the building to terrorize & slaughter all of the people inside.
Hilariously purporting to be "based on a true story", as the opening scrolling text indicates, this wonderfully dopey & trashy low-budget monster movie was written & directed by Francis Teri, who gives his little epic decent pace and some standout horror moments. Granted, it's predictable in a sense that a lot of the characters are insipid, and that the acting is all amateur-hour variety, but this is still quite a bit of FUN for lovers of low-rent creature features. The monster costume cost about $10,000 to make, and was worn by Michael Gingold, a big name in the horror community having written for both Fangoria and Rue Morgue. And it's a delightfully silly-looking monster, who dispatches our chump victims in the expected glorious fashion.
Of course, no group of intended victims in movies like this would be complete without thoroughly disagreeable characters whom we NEED to see die gloriously: the thuggish Axel, played by Frank Rivera, and the noxious businessman-client, played by Michael Logan.
Absurd in the extreme, cheesy, and absolutely hilarious, this will appeal to people who gravitate towards movies such as those made by the notorious Troma.
Seven out of 10.
Hilariously purporting to be "based on a true story", as the opening scrolling text indicates, this wonderfully dopey & trashy low-budget monster movie was written & directed by Francis Teri, who gives his little epic decent pace and some standout horror moments. Granted, it's predictable in a sense that a lot of the characters are insipid, and that the acting is all amateur-hour variety, but this is still quite a bit of FUN for lovers of low-rent creature features. The monster costume cost about $10,000 to make, and was worn by Michael Gingold, a big name in the horror community having written for both Fangoria and Rue Morgue. And it's a delightfully silly-looking monster, who dispatches our chump victims in the expected glorious fashion.
Of course, no group of intended victims in movies like this would be complete without thoroughly disagreeable characters whom we NEED to see die gloriously: the thuggish Axel, played by Frank Rivera, and the noxious businessman-client, played by Michael Logan.
Absurd in the extreme, cheesy, and absolutely hilarious, this will appeal to people who gravitate towards movies such as those made by the notorious Troma.
Seven out of 10.
- Hey_Sweden
- Aug 2, 2024
- Permalink
Check out the outrageously tasteless premise for The Suckling (AKA Sewage Baby): an aborted fetus, removed by coat hanger in a back street clinic, is flushed down a toilet and winds up in the sewer where toxic sludge mutates it into a huge monster that attacks the occupants of a brothel.
What sounds like a hugely enjoyable trash classic in the making is seriously hampered by terrible performances, a frequently dull script that spends too much time on the characters chatting about escape when it should be delivering scares and piling on the gore, and an incredibly goofy creature that looks like something H.R. Geiger designed for a laugh. In short, it all feels like a wasted opportunity.
Made on a tight budget, the film is clearly a labour of love by writer/director Francis Teri, making me feel a bit bad for ragging on it, so here's a few positives to ease my conscience a little: the electronic score is rather effective, there are some fun attempts at stop-motion animation, and Teri achieves one or two genuinely inspired moments of absurdity (the shonky puppet creature returning to the womb being a hilarious highlight).
What sounds like a hugely enjoyable trash classic in the making is seriously hampered by terrible performances, a frequently dull script that spends too much time on the characters chatting about escape when it should be delivering scares and piling on the gore, and an incredibly goofy creature that looks like something H.R. Geiger designed for a laugh. In short, it all feels like a wasted opportunity.
Made on a tight budget, the film is clearly a labour of love by writer/director Francis Teri, making me feel a bit bad for ragging on it, so here's a few positives to ease my conscience a little: the electronic score is rather effective, there are some fun attempts at stop-motion animation, and Teri achieves one or two genuinely inspired moments of absurdity (the shonky puppet creature returning to the womb being a hilarious highlight).
- BA_Harrison
- Aug 1, 2017
- Permalink
- jonahstewartvaughan
- Mar 4, 2023
- Permalink
Some woman gets an abortion at someone's house... er brothel (??) and then the foetus mutates into a monster and kills people. The Suckling is a Christian movie that teaches us the values of pro life and the consequences of pro choice. Just kidding but the concept of "a foetus seeking revenge against its murderer" does sound like something a pro lifer would just adore. So there you go. Now, I kinda get why people didn't like this movie. It's shot for s···, the effects are stupid, even the stop motion crap, the acting is the worst and there are some boring fillers that can sometimes slow the pacing to a halt. Well, I don't give a f···, I liked this piece of crap. Along with the plentiful bloody kills, I love all the aforementioned flaws because its my kind of entertainment. That's right. Everything I like is crap so suckle my sausage.
- DavyDissonance
- Feb 12, 2020
- Permalink
- ElijahCSkuggs
- Jun 8, 2008
- Permalink
Francis Teri's "The Suckling" is easily one of the worst horror movies ever made.It's sleazy,disgusting and incredibly stupid,so fans of trash cinema won't be disappointed.This time the monster in this movie is created when a teenage couple go to the whorehouse for an abortion.The fetus is flushed whole down the toilet and lands in the sewer,right beneath the leak from a barrel of toxic waste.The small embryo becomes a hideous monster,who promptly starts killing people... This hilariously awful horror film has to be seen to be believed.The acting is horrid,the special effects are downright horrible and the sound is weak.Still there is plenty of gore and nudity and the climax is pretty creepy and rather sick.So if you're a fan of trashy low-budget monster movies give this one a look.5 out of 10.
- HumanoidOfFlesh
- Sep 15, 2004
- Permalink
This movie is phenomenally well-done. I was skeptical at first, but my friend Bernard convinced me to watch this film. Not only is the dialogue beyond anything I've ever seen, the scenery is gorgeous. This movie was enjoyable from beginning to end. The twists and turns and complications in the plot made it all the more worthwhile. The depth that went into making this masterpiece is unheard of(and I mean that in the best way possible, of course!) I loved the character development, especially of the mother and the fetus. I heard this movie was low budget, but you would NEVER know it. Whoever was in charge of the budget did a first class job, grade A, really. My only complaint was that it was too short! LOVED IT!
- atomicgeek
- Mar 8, 2006
- Permalink