The Unborn

source: The Unborn

This film is alright if you've got some time to kill. This film did have real potential; a woman who can't have a baby goes to a doctor for in-vitro fertilization, but unfortunately the doctor is a madman who happens to be breeding a race of super-humans, and of course, it's all down hill from there. The build-up is simply amazing. Brooke Adams does an amazing job of a woman who is giving birth to something that she knows isn't normal. The way she portrays a character who is slowly going over the bend is brilliant. The film has an eerie and dark build-up to it (the cat scene in particular), it's a shame that the climax doesn't live up to the build-up. To be honest, the final scenes are just terrible. It throws it's the disturbing feel out of the window and just descends into really a really really bad b-movie. The effects are really bad - which normally isn't a problem, but these are seriously bad. This should be better for 1991. But, one thing does save the entire movie - gore! The film is extremely gory, and since the film is gore-fest from start to finish, then you can excuse the bad final scenes. Although it's a let-down, it's a fun movie to watch with friends if you have some time to kill.

At times, The Unborn comes across as two separate films that got spliced together. On one hand, there is a genuinely disturbing psychological thriller / satire with great performances, while on the other there is a cheap B-level gore film. Adams and her husband have been unable to conceive a child, so they go to James Karen's fertility clinic. Boasting a 100% success rate, he quickly fixes Adams's problem. Unfortunately, the child she conceives has some issues of its own. At many points, the actors, particularly Adams, appear to be acting in an entirely different movie. Her meltdown scene, had it been in a straight drama rather than a low budget horror movie, would have earned her an Academy Award nomination. The film itself has a number of satirical touches on maternity culture, and could have been an interesting feminist piece in different hands. Unfortunately, it turns into an uninspired gore film. I like gory horror movies, but it steals from It's Alive and Rosemary's Baby so blatantly it's not even funny. The special effects budget is so low that the film comes across as funny rather than scary.

A couple who cannot have children decide to go to a clinic for a little help conceiving a baby. Before long, the mother starts having eerie symptoms hinting that something is not right with the fetus, and soon after she discovers that she is the victim of a heinous genetic engineering experiment involving the creation of super-human babies. A somewhat drowsy approach to the killer baby genre, the first hour moves along well with a descent story about an unstable woman who thinks a monster is growing inside of her, but may just be going insane. The last bit relies on cheesy shocks and takes some of it's cues from It's Alive. The killer baby is quite fake looking, and nothing really seems to happen in the big finale. The final scene, however, is good. Brooke Adams carries the movie, and James Karen is good in his role as the evil doctor, even though he is given little to do. Lisa Kudrow appears in one of her early pre-Friends B-movie roles, and Kathy Griffin co-starred in this before she broke through with her stand-up "comedy" act. She gets whacked with a hammer, in a horribly staged fight scene. Two Stars.

A somewhat lame attempt to jump on the "evil baby" bandwagon, a sub-genre which includes such diverse titles ranging from the absolute classic (ROSEMARY'S BABY), to the fairly hopeless (I DON'T WANT TO BE BORN), to the inevitable obscure, foreign-made rip-offs (BABY BLOOD and DAMNED IN VENICE). THE UNBORN is a horror film containing lots of slow-burning dread and fear and a few moments of graphic horror to make up for the slow pacing and routine plot that the rest of the production offers. Characters are poorly-defined and set up to fall and the climax is let down by some really cheesy special effects of a killer baby which looks like nothing more than a rubbery doll. The script is over-wordy and the film let down by the central casting of Brooke Adams (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) who overplays it by overacting during the sequence in which she throws a tantrum and wrecks her house and proves to be unlikeable at other times, meaning that you never really care for her character. Brad Blaisdell, who plays her husband, is wooden and dull throughout, so his eventual death is not so much shocking as a much-needed case of "just desserts". The only actor of note in the proceedings is RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD's James Karen, but even he is wasted in the small role of the sinister scientist who causes all the aggro in the first place. His slimy death, in which his dying body is pelted by all manner of strange and unnatural slime and goo, is pretty amusing though. Trivia fans can spot a pre-FRIENDS Lisa Kudrow appearing in a one-scene cameo as a secretary. Gore fans will be disappointed that the blood is in short supply; aside from a nasty moment in which a lesbian massacres her lover there's only a knitting-needle-in-the-eye sequence to get excited about. THE UNBORN does deserve kudos for being brave enough to include one sick scene in which a woman stabs herself in her own pregnant stomach repeatedly but otherwise is a bit of a missed opportunity, following a well-worn and predictable route to a rather lame and tired conclusion. It's difficult to get worked up about any of the characters or their activities in this movie and as a whole it leaves a distasteful taste in the mouth come the downbeat, oh-so-surprising twist conclusion. None of the science-fiction elements are adequately explored or the reasons or results for their appearance explained, leaving them looking like nothing more than tacked-on shots to give the plot some kind of solid ground.

THE UNBORN is the story of Virginia Marshall (Brooke Adams) and her many, fruitless attempts to get pregnant. She and her husband go to see Dr. Meyerling (James Karen), who offers an answer to Virginia's problem. Soon thereafter, Virginia undergoes the Dr.'s procedure, and it appears to have done the trick. Then, Virginia's friend, who also happens to be a Meyerling client, experiences a case of EHCS (Eeevil Homicidal Child Syndrome), and another patient contacts Virginia with disturbing information, causing her to suspect that something nefarious is going on. She also notices a change in her own behavior. The next thing we know, she goes haywire, kills her cat, and wrecks her house! This scene is quite a knee-slapper! The best part of the movie comes when Virginia appears on a live, morning talk show, only to go totally berserk! Now, THAT'S entertainment! In no time, Virginia's on the run, and her birthing class teacher (Kathy Griffin) is getting her brains knocked out with a hammer! Of course, nothing can prepare you for the "abortion aftermath / dumpster / killer baby sequence"! Yecch! The freakish, fetal finale is a real brain-popper as well! Preposterous, yet somehow watchable, and permeated by an oddly flat musical score by Gary Numan, this movie adds extra cheddar to its overly dour, early 1990's horror vibe...

A couple (Brooke Adams and Jeff Hayenga) who cannot have children joins an in-vitro fertilization program. While she is with child, she finds strange occurrences happening within her body. Always nice to see James Karen ("Return of the Living Dead") in another genre film. Also, bit parts from both Lisa Kudrow (pre-"Friends") and the perpetual D-lister Kathy Griffin. Add to that Roger Corman as producer, and you have a few choice names... The concept of the villain being an evil geneticist connected to the Human Genome Project... not sure if that is brilliant, silly or inadvertent fear-mongering. Looking back twenty years, we now know the Human Genome Project was completely safe and taught us many valuable things (and I did not know it used any human subjects). Maybe in 1991 they did not understand it? The film seems to be strongly influenced by "Rosemary's Baby", as it follows a pregnant mother with who-knows-what growing inside her. Of course, this film is not about satanists... at least, not that I know of.

This is a disturbing horror film - not for all tastes and definitely not for the faint of heart! It is about a doctor who is creating superhuman foetuses without the mothers' knowledge. Unfortunately, there are extreme side-effects. "The Unborn" is much more poignantly frightening than "Rosemary's Baby" primarily because of the brilliant, sharply spooky musical score by the "Godfather of Electronica" - Gary Numan - and the very graphic, shocking, and adrenaline-releasing final moments of the film; however, poor production standards and not the greatest acting (has somewhat of a B-Movie flavour) prevent the film from becoming one of the better films of its kind (like the aforementioned). DO NOT WATCH THIS ALONE IN THE DARK! (6 out of 10)

The Unborn tells the tale of a married couple named Virginia (Brooke Adames) & Bradley Marshall (Jeff Hayenga) who have tried for the last five years to conceive, Virginia has had two miscarriages since then & is desperate to have a child. They visit Dr. Richard Meyerling (James Karen) for help after he is recommended by some of their friends, Dr. Meyerling says he will be able to help them have a child. Dr. Meyerling operates on Virginia & it is soon confirmed that the surgery has been a success & Virginia is pregnant. At first everything seems perfect & the Marshall's couldn't be happier, but their picture perfect lives don't last for long as Virginia's pregnancy develops problems, she becomes moody & acts totally out of character & she receives a worrying phone call from Beth (Jane Cameron), another woman who has undergone Dr. Meyerling's procedure, who claims that Meyerling is in fact using his patients for his own sinister ends & is in fact a disgraced genetic researcher. Virginia begins to question just what is growing inside of her... Produced & directed by Rodman Flender I actually thought The Unborn was a decent horror/thriller (it's DEFINITELY NOT a sci-fi film as the IMDb would have you believe) that pleasantly surprised me. The script by Henry Dominic tries to be different & it must take some credit for that at least. The Unborn goes for psychological horror rather than cheap scares & bad special effects, it's got quite a clever story that works & plays on basic human fears. It moves along at a fair pace although it's not exactly an action packed film by any means. The climax was good & seemed a fitting way to round things off & the warnings about messing around with genetics seem even more relevant today than it must have been back then, maybe Flender knew something the rest of us didn't. On the down side it lacks some exploitation elements & is at heart a dialogue driven film mostly focusing on one person so it can get a bit dull at times. Also, I have to mention it, what on Erath was that grinning black skateboarding dwarf all about eh?! Director Flender does an OK job, The Unborn is far from the most stylish or visually interesting film ever made but it's good enough. The atmosphere is good & there's a fair bit of tension as what Virginia has inside of her & Dr. Meyerling's sinister plans aren't fully revealed until the last possible moment. Disappointingly the blood & gore is almost non existent which in a way lets the film down because in retrospect nothing really memorable happens, The Unborn relies on good storytelling which is fine but in a week I doubt I'll remember too much about it. Technically the film is OK, I'd imagine that The Unborn had a pretty low budget but it's well made even if it's a little bland & forgettable. The baby creature is actually a decent special effect & has fairly realistic facial movement. The acting is good & this was one of the first acting jobs credited to Friends (1994 - 2004) star Lisa Kudrow, I have to be honest I don't like Friends & I don't even know who she was in this so I can't tell you how she did. The Unborn is a good horror/thriller that deserves to be more widely known & seen, it's far better than a lot of low budget crap that litter video shop shelves. If your a horror fan & are looking for something a bit different, something slightly more intelligent & thought provoking than usual then I think you could do a lot worse than The Unborn. Followed by a dumbed down sequel The Unborn II (1994) which I watched straight after this, check my review out if you want..

Slightly irrelevant and pointless, but nevertheless interesting little footnote to start off this user comment with: this movie contains a sex sequence that could have come straight out a Kama-Sutra encyclopedia. The couple makes love in a rocking chair and – believe it or not – but it's fairly elegant and passionately filmed, which is the last thing I expected to see in an obscure early 90's B-movie so kudos! "The Unborn" revolves on the ever ongoing quest to create the perfect human being. Therefore, some sleaze doctors in an artificial insemination clinic are saddling up unsuspecting but desperately craving mothers with altered DNA that eventually grows out into evil mutant monster fetuses that communicate from within the womb. Argh, freaky! The patients, including the writer of children's books Virginia Marshall, soon begin to have strange side-effects, like a burning rash in their necks. Virginia, who has been rational and even somewhat skeptical about the whole in-vitro fertilization method since the beginning, quickly understands that this thing growing inside of her is something evil and uncontrollable and she becomes obsessed with the idea losing her baby. Of course, nobody – especially not her husband - believes her mad raving speeches about doctors trying to create a master race. Completely unexpected, "The Unborn" was a pleasant horror surprise! The film has an original and potentially very terrifying basic premise – particularly if you're a young parent yourself – and the execution is fair to very decent as well. The script contains a handful of highly imaginative little details, like for example the malignant doctor corresponding with his evil embryos through hidden messages in the specially prepared relax tapes. There are some unsettling special effects and make-up art for the horror fanatics to enjoy as well. Of course, it's fairly easy to show shocking images in a film dealing with pregnant women and unborn babies. Just one brief image of a mother with a bloodied belly and a pair of scissors in her hands looks genuinely disturbing. The monstrous fetus looks quite cheesy, but it's nevertheless a nice attempt and, besides, it's not everyday you watch a fetus attack someone with a needle.