Manhattan Baby (1982)

It should have been called "How to Make a Movie with an Incoherent Plot", 26 November 2005

Lucio Fulci made some real stinkers in his career and Manhattan Baby comes close to being the worst. The problem is the incoherent plot that I'm not even going to attempt to explain. The plot centers around an Egyptian amulet with evil powers. The evil powers manifest themselves in a series of totally unrelated events. In fact, almost every event in Manhattan Baby is completely unrelated to what came before or what is yet to come. Fulci and screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti had some wonderful ideas, but there is nothing holding these ideas together. As a series of standalone set-pieces, Manhattan Baby isn't that bad. But trying to make sense out of a plot that's all over the place can give you quite a headache.

It's too bad. The movie gets off to a good start with some nice looking and mysterious Egyptian scenes. But don't let that fool you. Once the movie gets back to New York, things fall apart.

As I wrote previously, there are some good set-pieces in Manhattan Baby. Among the highlights – the tomb exploration, the opening of the children's door by a friend of the mother, and the final bird attack. As I've said before though, a few good set-pieces cannot save a movie.

4/10