The Godsend (1980) User Reviews

A decent "killer kid" film.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 19 October 2013]

The makers of this decent horror drama do get high marks for good intentions here. Their film does score to a degree by focusing on the human element, as the devastating effects of tragedy hit a young country dwelling couple. This couple, Alan (Malcolm Stoddard), and Kate (beautiful Cyd Hayman), already have four children of their own. They meet a mysterious, pregnant stranger (played by Angela Pleasence, the daughter of Donald P.) who gives birth in their home and promptly disappears. They keep her baby as one of their own, but their own children start dying under mysterious circumstances, starting with their infant. Alan comes to believe that the new kid, Bonnie (played at different ages by Wilhelmina Green and Joanne Boorman), is responsible, but Kate just can't accept that this adorable moppet could possibly be a danger.

This may be too slow and quiet to suit some horror fans expecting something more along the lines of "The Omen". It really does stress its dramatic elements more than anything, shying away from anything such as graphic violence. It does have a suitably eerie mood, beginning with the effectively enigmatic performance by Ms. Pleasence. The rest of the cast, including Patrick Barr as the sympathetic Dr. Collins, does fine work. Location shooting is good and atmosphere is strong but the music by Roger Webb is a little overbearing. The script is by Olaf Pooley, based on a novel by Bernard Taylor, and the film is dialogue heavy, with producer / director Gabrielle Beaumont (making her feature debut here) never rushing through the story. The ending fails to be completely satisfactory; in fact, it's kind of abrupt, but overall those genre fans who prefer subtlety may find it to their liking.

Six out of 10.

Why was adoption not an option?

[Tromafreak · 5/10 · 30 September 2009]

British Horror rocks, and that's all there is to it. British Horror certainly isn't the goriest I've come across. Maybe not the most action-packed, or the scariest, but at least some would agree that there is just something about British Horror.The Godsend is as shamefully underrated as anything I've seen from over there. This movie may be no Psychomania, and it sure ain't the masterpiece Vampyres is, but this is a good movie, nonetheless. A chillin' little British family (with far too many kids) comes across a stranded pregnant woman, who, you can tell is no good.. The unsuspecting couple lets their creepy, new friend stay over for a while, or at least long enough for her the have the kid and fly the coop before anyone notices. A problem easily solved, right? Wrong, the wife figures they don't have enough kids, already, oh, what's one more? At this point, any sensible B-Horror fan might wonder why the less-emotional man of the family doesn't just step in and at least suggest they give the little girl up for adoption, considering the other countless mouths to feed.. But if it had gone down like that, who would kill all their real kids? Not much of a Horror movie there. I take it, the pregnant woman from earlier, makes a habit of dropping off her demonic (?) offspring into the laps of unsuspecting families, although, hopefully, not all her victims are stupid enough to keep the kid. Could be wrong, but I don't think this is available on DVD yet, oh well, an old Vestron tape is good enough for me. Apparently, some compare The Godsend to The Omen. In my opinion, it's more like The Bad Seed, which, just so you know, is far superior to both The Godsend and The Omen. If you don't expect an action-packed, thrill-ride, or any type of a masterpiece, and are in the mood for some low-key, retro Horror, that doesn't require your absolute, undivided attention, you just might not hate The Godsend. Recommended to fans of British Horror, and especially killer kid flicks. 7/10

Very Faithful Adaptation...

[Magellan Grey · 28 February 2001]

I saw this film when it first came out in 1980. I enjoyed it. I also read the book and found that the movie was a very faithful adaptation. This is the kind of movie that is not high-budget, nor is it laced with overwhelming special effects. But is a very entertaining, low budget, late night "get away from it all" type of film.

these children ain't nice

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 24 August 2007]

Another movie about a seemingly cute child with a not-so-cute side; Portland's video/DVD store Movie Madness has in the horror section a whole shelf devoted to Killer Kids. In this case, a typical English family one day picks up a woman who gives birth in their house and then disappears without a trace, leaving her infant daughter with them. Sure enough, their children start getting killed. Basically a rehash of "The Bad Seed", "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Omen". Still, "The Godsend" has a neat side, as the vicious little girl makes some faces that no one would ever associate with a little girl; she did look kind of scary.

But in the grand scheme of things, there's nothing new or important about this movie. Not to mention that it ends rather abruptly. Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus produced much better movies over the years. This is the sort of flick that you rent if there's absolutely nothing else available.

It's got NOTHING to do with The Omen!

[visvivalaw · 6/10 · 10 November 2001]

This movie is not connected to, a rip off of or inspired by The Omen. Just because both happen to be about an evil child doesn't mean a thing. The Godsend is pure science fiction: what if there was a sub-species of humans who bred the same way the cuckoo does. This bird has the nasty habit of laying it's eggs in the nests of birds of other species. The baby cuckoo imitates the calls of its nestmates so the unwilling adoptive parents are none the wiser. At its first opportunity the baby cuckoo murders the other babies by pushing them out of the nest. That's what this movie was about.

The Parent Trap

[JasonXIX · 3/10 · 11 November 2020]

The only way this film works is as a black comedy. The mother and father characters are the most inept and incompetent parents in the history of movies.

One by one, their children are dying. These parents just can't be bothered to keep an eye on their kids. Finally, by the time their 5th child mysteriously dies, Mom and Dad begin to figure out that little Bonnie might be the problem. But by then it's too late, the audience has already fallen asleep.

Absolute Rubbish!!!

[batstandards · 1/10 · 25 April 2003]

The film is absolutely dreadful. I had to watch it with the fast forward button. This film succeeds at doing only 2 things...it makes you want to beat up the stranger and the evil girl. The film is full of empty spaces...it could have been over in 20 minutes. Avoid this film!

a good review

[aslarabee · 6/10 · 31 March 2005]

Although I haven't watched this movie in at least seven years, I have always enjoyed watching it. I personally thought that the movie was a great one to watch. It may be on the low end of horror flicks as far as bloodiness and actually murder scenes, but it does get the point across. I have been unable to find this movie in video stores, even ones with older movies. So, even if anyone wants to watch the movie it may be hard to find. I truly loved the context of the movie. I think that it does show the lack of technology that we had in the 1980's compared to now, but I have seen many movies from the 1980's that are about the same in the technology area. However, it doesn't make them bad. However, this is just my opinion.

Plays like a bad made for TV horror flick

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 2 January 2003]

A nice, young British couple with three (or four--I forgot) children meet a heavily pregnant woman in a park. They invite her home with them. During the night she gives birth and leaves without them knowing it. They decide to bring up the baby as their own. What they don't know is that the baby is evil and wants all their attention...even if it means killing off her siblings to get it...

Rightly forgotten 1980 horror film. The book was very scary and well-written...this adaptation is faithful (except for a stupid changed ending) but the acting is bad and the direction is really, really off. The killings are bloodless and happen offscreen--how this thing got an R rating is beyond me. Dull, trite and forgettable. It was originally advertised with the tagline "For God's sake...take it back!" Trust it.

A very average film with an incredibly scary star

[Boris Grushenko · 19 September 2001]

The film is basically a complete rip-off of the evil child genre and, to be honest, Omen makes a much better job of it. A young couple, living in an idyllic country setting, are visited by a pregnant woman who gives birth at their house and then disappears mysteriously leaving her baby daughter. A series of "accidental" deaths follows in the household and eventually the parents come to realise that the demonic child is the cause.

The film adds nothing to the genre, but it is almost worth watching just for the evil child. After each death, the camera zooms up on her face and she wears an expression of pure evil. Very disturbing. I remember seeing the film when I was 15 and could not forget her face.

Apart from that, the Godsend is pretty missable.

Horrible "OMEN" rip-off

[horror7777 · 3/10 · 30 December 2000]

"First there was ROSEMARY'S BABY. Then THE OMEN. And now, a tale more suspenseful, more frightening than either... As the snow fell in New York, I took this video out of my video closet. The box looked interesting, with this quote on the back. On the front, there was an upside-down cross with the two eyes peering at me. For an instant, I thought this was going to be an Oscar worthy rip-off. The film started nice enough, opening with pretty views of the English countryside. A family was playing in the meadow, when a stranger came and asked if she could stay. She was pregnant and needed a place to give birth. Well, she gave birth that night and left the next morning. Then in pitiful fashion the baby, now a girl, kills all the "sibling competition". Now, I started wondering about halfway through the film, what was I watching? The girl resembled Drew Barrymore in "Firestarter". It was like: "The Omen"+"Firestarter"+A Daytime Soap all in one. The big killings are done in 30 minutes, the other hour was basically spent with the parents fighting. The father wanted to get rid of her, the mother wanted to keep her. And as if that was bad, the ending was so contrived. It was clear, the movie was over after 30 minutes. The filmmakers desperately needed to end the film. But there was no way to do it. The ending came so abruptly, that I must say seeing those red credits on the screen must have been the scariest part of all. At any rate, avoid this one and rent "The Omen" again!!

Not bad at all

[atinder · 6/10 · 21 August 2015]

I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie But I enjoyed it

I found the girl to cute to evil but boy was one evil girl, but hers eyes scenes got really annoying At times

The plot was a little , girl been adopted into family , with number of kids

There others kids starts to killed of one by one years apart for skme odd reason

We only get to see the aftermath of the deaths I liked one strange scence ,

which really wearied but great to watch

6 out of 10

When a blessing becomes a curse...

[GOWBTW · 9/10 · 26 August 2020]

Killer kids movies are becoming the rage. You got "The Omen" in 1976, "The Brood" in 1979, and now "The Godsend" in 1980. It's a British version of "The Omen", only creepier in its own way. A family of four children take in a pregnant woman(Angela Pleasance) stays with the family, giving birth to a daughter one night, and disappeared from the home the next day. Thinking about having a additional child to the family would give you joy. In their case, it's the exact opposite. When the daughter is placed in the crib with the youngest sibling wouldn't be harmful. How wrong they could be! The youngest one is found dead next to the newest addition. And the downward spiral of pain inflicts the others. They can't find the mother of the daughter, and the father wouldn't be part of the girl's life if he wanted to. And the mother who lost her family would have to bring in the "daughter" as her own even if she feels that the others are instantly out of her life due to Bonnie's influence on her. "The Godsend" is a British version of "The Omen" with a reversed role. And no biblical matter. It's fun. I enjoyed it very much. Worth it! 3.5 out of 5 stars!