La pelle giovane

This nifty, late-60's British thriller is about a scheming teenage girl (Linda Hayden) who after her mother's suicide moves in with the family of her mother's married lover and proceeds to seduce all three of them (father, mother, teenage son)--two of whom may be blood relatives! If this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because it was the subject of an uncredited, near-remake by Hollywood in the early 1990's called "Poison Ivy", which spawned three increasingly trashy sequels and revived the career of Drew Barrymore. Hayden is actually much better here than Barrymore was in "Poison Ivy", but this movie is very hard to find today, no doubt because Hayden has several brief nude scenes and was about the same age at the time as her fifteen-year-old character. This is monumentally silly more than forty years later--half the adult population (women) have seen a girl that age naked, and the other half (let's just be honest here) probably have at some point in their lives. But we live in a society today where if a teenage girl sends nude photos of herself to her teenage boyfriend, instead of considering it a "teachable moment", we're more likely to charge them both with distributing child pornography!

Anyway, whatever else she was, Linda Hayden was a criminally underrated actress. She got some attention for her appearances in Hammer's "Taste the Blood of Dracula" and as another sexy, evil vixen in "Blood on Satan's Claw" (where, incidentally, she has even more graphic and still-underage nude scenes as well). She had more bad luck after that though. She reunited with the director here (Alistair Reid) as well Peter Finch and Shelly Winters in another very solid thriller called "Something to Hide" that has been all hacked up and never released on DVD for no good reason I can tell. Her best performance perhaps though was in "The House on Straw Hill" (which makes it's likely inspiration, Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs", look like a Disney film), but that entertaining but uber-sleazy venture became the only British-made film to be labeled a "video nasty" in Britain and it was banned there for many years. As a somewhat ironic result, it's considered a minor cult film there today(and was even remade in 2009), but was little seen outside of the UK. As for Hayden, she eventually took her considerable charms to dumb British sex comedies like the "Confessions of" series and "Queen Kong" (starring her then paramour Robin Askwith) before ending her career with a cameo role (mostly nude, of course) in "The Boys of Brazil".

There's nothing much to say about the rest of the cast as this is Linda Hayden's show all the way. But there is a good cameo at the beginning by ill-fated, former glamor actress Diana Dors as the Hayden character's mother. As for the director, Alistair Reid, he's no doubt now written off as a "dirty old man" in some quarters for having directed this, but his "Something to Hide" and "Deadly Strangers" (with Hayley Mills and Sterling Hayden)were equally good British thrillers. I'd certainly recommend this.

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.

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.

Would you believe that this very old movie, with little known stars (well, even back then, I suppose) has actually stood the test of time?

Okay, towards the end, it shoots itself in the foot when the movie turns violent. But aside from that...

I'm always on the look for controversial movies and when I read about this one, I was immediately intrigued. With something so old and with such an unknown cast and, on top of it, dealing with such a subject matter, I didn't even expect it to have been released on DVD, much less find it on my seller site, but I did.

First off, let me just voice an objection. The current (2017) summary here on INDb was written by somebody (anonymous) who doesn't like the movie, and that particular style is fine (and entertaining enough) for a review, but absolutely unsuitable for a summary. To each their own, if they don't like a movie, they don't have to be nice, but summaries should be factual and impartial.

The movie doesn't deserve to be derided. As for the deeply human characters, I have enjoyed watching, I was pleasantly surprised, it is a good movie. Yes, I'm into pretty actresses, we all know The Raven, but besides the obvious points of interest for me, it was surprisingly well done. The movie is almost fifty years old and I knew I was taking a big chance when I bought it sight unseen.

I'm glad I did.

Diana Dors is just way off-putting as the choice for Luci's Mom, and here's something else: Somebody who already knows pain (cancer) would choose being scalded by boiling water while bleeding to death because of razor slices as method of suicide? I think that nasty start should have been replaced with something more "sedate" like sleeping pills or so. That was just to shock! And the movie doesn't need it.

Anyway, loved Linda Hayden and appreciate her fine performance. I do appreciate that she is the real thing, only fifteen years old, imagine this being done today!!! Good choice with mature female lead Ann Lynn as well.

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.