Cradle Will Fall aka Baby Blues

This is the second film I have come across recently where the British DVD title is different to the release title; the first was Zombie Virus on Mulberry Street where the 'Zombie Virus on' was presumably added for effect and I guess that this is also the case here where Baby Blues (the film's proper title) was considered no good as it could have been confused with other films in a comedic/family genre so was replaced with one evoking The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and more fitting for a horror film. I quite like Baby Blues as a title as it fits the subject matter and is catchy though it may get mixed up with the recent Tina Fey film Baby Mama. Anyway, enough about the title and on to the film.
 
Written and directed by first time filmmakers Lars Jacobson and Amardeep Kaleka, Baby Blues (or, if you prefer, Cradle Will Fall) begins with a woman struggling to keep her self control with a screaming newborn baby and three other bickering children. As the (original) title suggests, she has the baby blues or, to give it its correct term, post natal depression. With her truck driver husband away much of the time, she has to raise  these four children by herself and signs are immediately ominous when she's making dinner and the noise level rises and rises and rises until she snaps and smashes the glass pyrex bowl on the kitchen floor. Eldest son Jimmy, wonderfully played by Ridge Canipe who I last saw playing the young J.R. in Walk the Line, realises that something is wrong and his suspicions are confirmed when he goes looking for his momma and finds his baby brother very cold and very dead on her bed.
 

 
It's not long before mom completely snaps and tries to drown Jimmy's sister with him coming to the rescue and, with his brother's assistance, lifting her out of the bathtub and getting her breathing. Jimmy realises that there is no reasoning with her and it's a case of run and hide until he can get word to the neighbour or his father who is somewhere on the road.
 
Like The Shining (which is referenced near the end), this plays on the primordial fear of the one person who you should be able to count on for love and protection turning into a monster, dead set on committing infanticide. I must admit that I went into this with no expectations of greatness, something I always find to be a wise course of action as you're never truly disappointed but are occasionally pleasantly surprised. It wasn't long before it got its hooks in and I was utterly drawn into the children's plight - you hear of post natal (or postpartum) depression but I've never considered what a terrifying and dangerous thing it is. The press release says that this was inspired by the case of a woman who was suffering from PND and drowned her five children and I've heard stories from women I know, including my mother, who were on the verge of doing serious damage to a screaming baby simply through frustration and lack of sleep. When you combine this with a severe mental illness, it's easy to believe that something like this could happen.
 

Baby Blues is basically a chase film with Jimmy trying to protect his siblings and run from the homicidal killer in the house who won't give up and will pursue them presumably until they are all dead. Colleen Porch is utterly convincing as the mother and Ridge Canipe is every bit her equal with a performance well beyond his tender years. This is a film that draws you in and keeps the tension high throughout as you both fear for the children and feel for both them and their mother who is quite clearly out of her mind. This is a very accomplished horror film that identifies Lars Jacobson and Amardeep Kaleka as names worth following.
 

The Disc

 
The Picture
A very crisp and well defined widescreen picture that loses nothing in the darker scenes and there is some very good use of special effects make up in the closing stages. The filmmakers chose the location well as the film is set in the Deep South and the use of an isolated farm surrounded by high crops further adds to the terror as the neighbour isn't just a few yards away.
 
The Sound
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is very clear with good dialogue and sound effects that make good use of the surround speakers. There aren't any subtitles but, unless you are hard of hearing, you won't need them as the sound is well recorded and the actors speak clearly and are easy to make out despite the southern drawl.
 

 
Final Thoughts
Baby Blues is an extremely accomplished and gripping horror film that is a thrill ride from beginning to end. The subject of Post natal depression is a touchy one and I wonder  how those who have first-hand experience of it will judge the depiction of a sufferer in this film. The disc only comes with a trailer so it isn't packed with extras to act as selling points - I would have liked to hear from Jacobson and Kaleka to find their inspirations and what research they did, together with any tales from the shoot that may have been of interest but this was not to be so the only selling point is the film. In that respect it is a disc well worth checking out but it's up to you whether you decide to buy or rent first.