A picnicking English family encounters a mysterious, pregnant young woman in a meadow.  Her behavior is strange, and the little she says is puzzling.  They take her home, and are then surprised when she suddenly gives birth to an infant girl there.  Then she inexplicably vanishes.

The couple, who already have five children, adopt the baby as their sixth.  But their unusually large family begins to be depleted, after their biological children die, one by one, under mysterious circumstances.

That’s the premise of “The Godsend” (1980).  You’ve got to admit, that is chilling, and it held my attention throughout the length of this passably entertaining movie.  It has an interesting story setup, and there is at least one truly frightening sequence at the story’s end.  In addition, the spooky young mother is effectively played, however briefly, by Angela Pleasence, daughter of Donald Pleasence.

But I doubt this will wind up on many top ten lists.  It’s thinly scripted, slowly paced, and features two parents who seem minimally affected by the deaths of their children.  It’s also too derivative of its obvious inspiration, “The Omen” (1976).

I’d give it a 6 out of 10.