Manhattan Baby (1982) Horror Egyptian Curse

Manhattan Baby -aka "Eye of the Evil Dead" -  Well that was something. The film directed by Lucio Fulci reminds me of other things but does not seem to be an homage to any of them. There is this entirely sort of Exorcist beginning where Archaeologist Father, George Hacker (Christopher Connelly) and Wife Emily (Laura Lenzi) are visiting the pyramids in Egypt with daughter Susie (Brigitta Broccoli). While George is off investigating a cursed tomb, almost to his demise. Mom a journalist is taking pictures leaving little maybe 11 or 12 year old Susie alone in the ruins. Susie is visited by a blind woman who hands her a stone amulet that looks like the Eye of Horus then disappears into thin air. There are small details that I found amusing in this opening scene, when the old woman appears to Susie the girl reaches into her pocket and holds out what looks like money to the old lady. Such an American thing to do. Is the air thin in Egypt? At the same time a local dies directly after saying "Tombs are for the dead" as he and George enter the cursed tomb.Right before this they turn a symbol of a snake on the wall to reveal the secret passage they go down. There is this moment where the symbol pops off the wall and a cobra pops onto the floor near them. So was that just a place where cobras always nest? Or was that a four thousand year old cobra? There George sees another eye a symbol on the wall, suddenly blue laser beams shoot out and blind him.  He stumbles from the tomb blind.
  I can see not really getting into the death of the local in the tomb. We are setup to see George and his family and so when in the next scene George is being examines by a doctor back in NYC it is no big shock. He will be blind for about a year says the doctor but his sight will return. What follows is a less than coherent plodding film that tells the story of the effect the amulet has on the family and those around them. The stinger on the end is made to make it seem that there story is a cycle that has happened many times before.
  Included as ideas are that the Amulet that Susie has creates a doorway back to Egypt, and possible through time and that She and her little brother Tommy (Giovanni Frezza)use it to travel from there room and back. When someone tries to intervene with the magic the amulets power seems to possess the young girl bringing her close to death. The portal idea is a cool one but it also proves to be very dangerous. Sure there are some more innocent things like sand being deposited in the room, or Tommy bring back a 3rd century Anubis statue. There is also though a friend of Emily's disappearing through the bedroom door and transported to an untimely death in the desert of Egypt. The same for the Au-pair Jamie Lee (Cinzia de Ponti) who vanishes through the portal never to be seen again.
  Fulci not known for films that always go from point A to B is all over the place on this one. It is really two story parts that crisscross throughout the film. One of Mom and Dad as they try to figure out what is happening in there house. Their part though often feels detached from the plot. They do not regularly interact with their children and thus it takes most of the film before they are really clued in to what is going on. They almost lack agency when it comes to the plot. Even when they do find out about the amulet it is because they are contacted by the amazingly serious Mercato ( played over the top ominously by Cosimo Cinieri with voice dub by Edward Mannix). He is the exposition about what the amulet does and how it can possess the wearer, in this case poor little Susie.  The children and Au-pair are on the other track of the story and we get to see lots of strange happening during their scenes. including the demise of Jamie Lee. At know time even though two different people disappear do we ever see the police of for that matter any real concern by the Hackers. Instead the add in Mercato takes the curse off the girl at a grave cost to himself and she is freed to heal. Again the family seems to have no agency, things are just happening to them.
  The discombobulated sequence in which the scenes play out is off putting to the viewer. The acting is a bit cardboard for all except little Tommy who is little brother annoying and Mercato who is doing his thespian best to make sure the furthest seats can read his emotions. The building the family lives is is at the corner of East End Ave and 86th St. in NYC and you can see it today on google maps street view. I read in the Wikipedia that not only was this film poorly received but that Fulci was very unhappy with it and that contributed to him breaking from longtime producer Frabrizio De Angelis. He was quoted saying something to the effect that he had to make the film he was asked to make.       Someone like me who sort of likes even the bad Lucio Fulci films does not mind watching this film or even owning it. As far as a recommendation for the casual viewer, I would not go that far. I find it worth it for the elevator scene alone but again it is a real commitment if that is the only reason you are watching the film. It is a throw away scene but how it is executed is a wonderfully terrifying experience. No one in the film really addresses that horrible death either or the fact that they now have to walk up and down stairs to their sixth floor apartment. That may be the crux of the problem this movie lives with, there are things in it of value but overall it just does not come together coherently enough to make it good.