On the night of what is my wife due date to have our first child; this is probably not the movie I should be watching. I am honestly wondering if I’m being set up by the horror industry in the last few weeks with all of these films involving pregnant women, family and children. Well like I said above tonight (March 10th 2007) is my wife’s actually due date. And what better to spend the evening watching a horror film about an evil baby. And with that, we have Pro-Life, another Masters of Horror Episode directed by the great John Carpenter.
Pro-Life is about a young fifteen year old who gets raped by Satan. Well maybe not the dark price himself, but from a demon from hell. Here she is sitting on a swing, and up from the ground pops a demon, whom drags her down into his hellish layer and plants his seed. Well she finds her way to a women clinic thanks to two passersby whom pick her up after almost hitting her with their car. She is known by the medical staff within the facility as an obvious regular. They at first don’t believe her that she is pregnant, until her midsection start to rapidly grow and the signs of pregnancy are obvious. She says she would like to terminate the pregnancy, however being of such a young age, law requires her to have parental consent. Meanwhile outside her father (Ron Pearlman) whom seems to be a psycho anti-abortion activist. He seems to be known by the hospital staff as well, and has been warned plenty of times that his presence is not welcomed on the clinic grounds. He threatens the staff if they do anything to the baby, and the staff thinks that the baby belongs to him. Well he rounds up his sons, and they raid the clinic with guns a blazing and even kill some of the medical and security staff. Meanwhile his daughter is about to give birth to something evil, something that no one maybe able to stop.
This film is what I like to call a “Smart Horror” film. It’s what I wish more horror filmmakers would make films about. Take a topic, and make a horror film around it. In this case it’s the topic of abortion. Carpenter took this script and in the film he shows you the positives and negatives of this topic, with the element of horror added in. It’s a tough topic to talk about, and the film does not take sides but rather shows both sides on the controversial septum of the topic at hand. It’s kind of funny because in the documentary of the making of Pro-Life on the DVD; Carpenter say that the film is just a monster movie. But on the topic of abortion, the film covers a lot, from the religious aspect and what the religious folks in the film believe and stand for. And then we’re shown the women whom struggle with themselves and the tough decision that they have to make, and the consequences that getting an abortion or choosing to have a child, have an effect on the women. The script also covers the aspect of the topic in which a women’s life, or a babies life is in danger. The great thing is that it is not one sided on the topic and shows both parties as both hero’s and villains.
The film is solid, it has that direct to television feel to it, but overall it’s very well put together, and fun to watch. The leads in the film are great, they play their parts very well. Ron Pearlman as always steals the show. But has some good competition in this one with his co-star Caitlin Wachs who did a great job as his daughter. The supporting cast does alright, but some of them did seem to over act a little bit too much.
The production value is top notch, the sets and production design was great, and gave you this feel of being in a dark medical clinic. the visuals are out of this world, the film has a lot of gore and some great make-up effects, as well as some great CGI mixed in with some great animatronics creature effects. When you have guys like Craig Nicotero and his KNB effects team working on your films you know you can’t go wrong, and the effects will always be top notch. Matter in fact I can write for hours about how cool the effects were in this flick, but you’ll just have to take my word for it and go and get your hands on this film.
Overall, Pro-Life follows the guidelines perfectly in what it takes to make a effective horror film. The topic it covers may be one of controversy which many people are divided on, but the film does not take sides; but rather takes the pro’s and cons and brings them to light while entertaining us with what is nonetheless a good old fashion monster movie. Well worth checking out.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
