Child of Darkness, Child of Light

Two women get pregent at the same time. Problem is both of them are virgins. One will give birth to the child of God. The other one will give birth to the child of Satan. A made for TV movie that is exactly like every other TV movie. It's dull, bland and of course features a familiar face or two in the cast. It isn't really all that bad, but it isn't much of anything either. Pity.

Rated PG-13; Violence.

This movie is about the apocolyptic birth of two babies to two virgins. Very big on religious themes. It's far from a great movie, but it is based on the book VIRGIN by James Patterson. I had read the book years ago, so had more of an interest in seeing the movie. It follows what I remember fairly accurately. This movie can be considered "horror" because of the sinister aspects of the visions and occurrences that the girls experience.

Actually, the movie is neither horror nor Sci-Fi. With a very strong Christian religious theme, this movie delivers minimal content and no suspense. Second-tier actors do half-decent jobs of reading their boring roles. The only good performance is by Sydney Penny who plays a role of a mother of ... I won't spoil the movie, it's either Christ or Anti-Christ. Avoid watching this movie unless you a Christian religious fanatic obsessed with apocalypse.

Being a non-Christian, I had to force myself to watch this movie just because I wanted to write this review. It's a pity that Sci-Fi channel had to air this movie at the peak evening time.

Child of Darkness, Child of Light is a TV horror movie that doesn't appear to have a very good reputation. I cannot go along with the negativity though, as I think this is a pretty decent effort overall. It is a religious themed horror movie that focuses on that old staple of the genre – the birth of the Antichrist. Except there is a twist here in that there are not one but two virgin births, both of which have been prophesied to spawn not only the Antichrist but the Christ as well. A priest is sent by the Vatican to try and determine which is which.

It's pretty obviously a television production in fairness, with obvious restrictions in place regarding the content. But equally, the TV production values ensure that it's professionally made and solid on the whole. The storyline is well enough handled, with decent pacing. There are also some well-staged scenes and surprises along the way. The cast has a few familiar faces such as Brad 'Midnight Express' Davis as a doctor, not long before his untimely death and a blink-and-you'll-miss him appearance by future star Brendan Fraser. All-in-all, this is more than decent for a TV horror film; if you go into it with realistic expectations it should entertain you.

Child of Darkness, Child of Light: Not one but two Immaculate Conceptions! One will be The Second Coming, the other The Antichrist! But which is which? The Vatican sends a priest to investigate. There is also have a Prophecy of The Virgin Mary which is only incrementally revealed. Teenage bullies, vicious crows, black clad assassins on motorbikes! Even a friendly pet dog is turned savage by the powers of darkness. Not great but considering that it's a TV movie from 1991 not bad either. Entertaining and worth watching. Showing again on the Horror Channel on Monday 4th January at 11.00 AM. 6/10.