El nonato

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...

The Unborn is a pretty good low-budget horror movie exploiting the fears associated with pregnancy. It's very well acted by the always-good Brooke Adams and b-movie stalwart James Karen, although the supporting cast is pretty average for a b-grader. The music, by Gary Numan of all people, is good too. Henry Dominic's script is quite intelligent for this sort of thing, although there is a hint of misogyny about it. Rodman Fender's direction is merely adequate, and there are some unnecessary cheap scares. If you're a fan of Adams, whose movie career is nowhere near as illustrious as it should be, check it out; she's great, as always.

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.

My review was written in April 1991 after watching the film on video cassette.

Pregnancy fears make for an effective horror topic in "The Unborn", an entertaining though tasteless shocker. Film is currently in regional theatrical release and will turn on video fans.

Brroke Adams returns to the paranoid horror turf of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", portraying a young wife and author of children's books who has a history of miscarriages and turns to a mysterious doctor (James Karen) for help.

Unfortunately for her, he's your friendly neighborhood mad scientist, altering sperm (in this case from Brooke's sympathetic husband, Jef Hayenga) to create a master race of superintelligent babies who will supplant humans.

Manic-depressive Adams has a medical history that makes her suspect, so when she starts to cry wolf, beginning on a tv talk show promoting her latest tome, no one believes her. Though well along in her pregnancy, she gets an abortion (illegally), but her worries aren't over.

The fetus lives on and debuting director Rodman Flender gets good mileage out of her ambivalent findings towards the monstrous offspring. Film's open ending is quite unsettling.

With good performances, notably by Adams and Karen, the film draws in the willing viewer. The monster baby, as created by Joe Podnar, is unconvincing, but Podnar's makeup effects are suitably gruesome. Flender's one misstep is the inclusion of an unnecessary subplot ridiculing two lesians who run a nautral childbirth class that excludes men.

A childless couple (Brooke Adams, Jeff Hayenga) go to a doctor (James Karen) to try to conceive. It works but Adams slowly becomes aware that there's something seriously wrong with the baby...

Pretty interesting idea is thoroughly done in by a lousy script--the basic idea is OK but becomes screamingly predictable towards the end. I saw every "twist" coming. The direction is poor--he seems to have no idea how to shoot a basic scene. The production values are--to be nice--lousy. Very shabby. And, the gore scenes are too unpleasant (I almost turned it off when a pregnant woman started stabbing herself in the stomach) with lousy special effects. The film completely derails at the end when it becomes quite clear they had no idea HOW to end this film.

Some good acting makes it somewhat bearable. Adams, Hayenga and Karen are all good at their roles and kept me watching but that was about it. This film barely got released in 1991 and still remains unknown--it's easy to see why. I give it a 4.