One of the best films i have seen

Absolutely the worst movie.

A Brilliant Conflict

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This made for TV drama wasn't bad at all. I had expected something more like a typical after school special or perhaps even a exploitation flick, but the story lines are worked out fairly well, there is hardly any (gratuitous) violence or nudity and it stays away from any kind of simplistic message in the end.The acting isn't great, but good enough for a small TV production like this. For Linda Blair, being 14 when the film was shot, some scenes must have been pretty heavy stuff to do - and in the IMDb trivia that is confirmed. This is supposedly her first film after her iconic performance in the horror classic 'The exorcist' (1973), and that film couldn't have been easy for her to do, either.As a cinematic experience, 'Born innocent' hardly has anything to offer (personally, I do appreciate the particular time and place, though - '70s America), but the film does focus on many aspects of the troubled youth in America, for instance, her family life, her life inside among the other delinquents and also how the counselors look at things. This makes for a complete story that will make you think.A small 7 out of 10.

I discovered this movie with a retailer selling OOP's. And this one surely is an OOP. One year after The Exorcist she's back in business with this movie but what we all new was that the career of Blair never broke out, she never became a mega star. That's one of the reason's many of her films are OOP. She gives a good performance in this movie. It's about a reject not recognized by her parents and doesn't have any friends. Played at an age of 15 playing a girl of 14, that's funny. The movie is also known for the rape scene in the showers were they stick a broomstick up her virginity. In most editions it's cut out, why, I don't know, no blood is involved, okay, Blair is butt naked but nothing is shown, no T&A so nothing to offend people. But the movie is slow, extremely slow. It doesn't happy normally to me but I almost felt asleep. It's just about that 14 year old becoming a rebel against society but no blood flows, no gore no nothing. Why this is categorized in horror is still a wonder to me. If you're a fan of Blair, buy it if you can find it otherwise leave it as it is.

Sullen and forlorn 14-year-old incorrigible runaway Chris Parker (a touching and terrific performance by Linda Blair) gets declared a ward of the state. She's placed in a juvenile reform school where she not only begins to feel even more dejected and alienated because of the cold bureaucratic system, but also runs afoul of nasty, disturbed Denny (chillingly played by Janit Baldwin) and dumpy, aggressive lesbian Moco (the equally scary Nora Heflin). Director Donald Wrye, working from a gritty and uncompromisingly realistic script by Gerald Di Pego, relates the grimly plausible and compelling story in an admirably straightforward and nonexploitative manner. The uniformly fine acting from a top-notch cast qualifies as another substantial asset: Joanna Miles as concerned, caring counselor Barbara Clark, Allyn Ann McLerie as strict, but compassionate house mother Emma Lasko, Richard Jaeckel as Chris' stern, volatile, overbearing father, Kim Hunter as Chris' neurotic, ineffectual mother, Mitch Vogel as Chris' supportive, but unhelpful brother Tom, Tina Andrews as the friendly, spunky Josie, and Sandra Ego as the depressed, suicidal, pregnant Janet. Fred Karlin's beautifully moody'n'melancholy score and David M. Walsh's plain, yet polished cinematography are likewise solid and impressive. But what truly gives this hard-hitting made-for-TV drama its considerable impact and poignancy is the welcome and commendable sense of restraint, conviction and raw honesty evident throughout. The potentially lurid plot stays on a steady and tasteful course (although the infamous plunger rape scene is indeed quite shocking and disturbing, its thankfully more suggested than shown), sharply revealing plenty of bleak truths about troubled teens in the process and culminating in a hauntingly downbeat ending. A real powerhouse.

I just bought this movie out of wedlock. I thought it would be good because of Linda Blair being in it. The movie was an average movie not too good, not too bad, but boring sometimes. The rape scene with the broom seemed to be cut out a lot. My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5.