The Child

The Child (1977)

Let's play hide and go kill!

In early 20th century California, a young woman, Alicianne, takes a job as a nanny to a young girl, Rosalie, whose mother has recently died. On her way to the rural, secluded home, Alicianne meets a neighbor who warns her of the family's reputation. She soon meets the crabby, morbid Mr. Nordon, his awkward son Len, and the aloof Rosalie, who can seemingly animate objects when she is angry.

Date of release
1977-06-02
TMDB
4.3 / 10 (48)
Runtime
1h 22m
Genres
Horror, Mystery
Director
Robert Voskanian

Casting

Interesting facts

The Child is a 1977 American supernatural horror film directed by Robert Voskanian, and starring Laurel Barnett, Rosalie Cole, Frank Janson, and Richard Hanners. Set in the 1930s, it follows a young woman who takes a job as a nanny at a decrepit, isolated manor where a series of strange incidents begin to occur.

Production

The Child began as a project by Robert Voskanian and Robert Dadashian, two Armenian immigrant film students at Columbia College Hollywood. Inspired to make a horror film after seeing Night of the Living Dead (1968), the two acquired a screenplay by Ralph Lucas and began developing the project, raising a $100,000 budget to make the film.

The majority of the cast of The Child were first-time film actors with no prior feature film experience, with the exception of Frank Janson, who portrays the patriarch Nordon. Laurel Barnett was cast in the lead role of Alicianne after responding to an advertisement in a local actors' publication; she particularly impressed Voskanian as she arrived at her meeting with him wearing the period clothing appropriate to the character.

The Child had a protracted production due to funding issues. Principal photography began in Los Angeles in 1973, but, due to repeated delays, the film was not completed until 1976. The film was shot without sound, and dubbed in post-production. To eliminate troubles with acquiring buildings for indoor shooting, the interior sequences were prioritized initially and completed first. Some interiors, such as the residence of Mrs.

The majority of the outdoors sequences were filmed in oil fields near Los Angeles, which were owned by Standard Oil. Among these were the scenes that took place at the cemetery, which was constructed by Voskanian and Dadashian.

Because the budget was so limited, the actors and crew took on various roles: Barnett, who portrayed the lead of Alicianne, also served as a costumer for the production, helping curate vintage period clothing from thrift shops in Hollywood.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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