Brad and Virginia (Brooke Adams) will do anything to have a baby. When a renowned infertility specialist, Dr. Meyerling (played byJames Karen of ROTLD fame) finally helps them conceive, they think their troubles are behind them. The husband can finally relax and tell his friends he indeed isn't a blank-shooter, but a loaded .44 magnum instead. Well, maybe a .25 automatic.
Plagued by a variety of strange symptoms as her pregnancy progresses, Virginia learns that Dr. Myerling isn't an obstetrician; he's a genetic engineer. And he's now determined to 'breed' bigger, stronger, smarter babies. If it wasn't for breeding 'smarter' babies, I'd almost swear that Dr Myerling made Arnold Schwarzenegger - but Dr. Jack Kevorkian takes all the credit for that mess.
Virginia's desperate search for answers leads to the shocking revelation that not only isn't the baby hers, it's not human. It actually belongs to Micky Rourke.
In the tradition of the It's Alive! films and others like Rosemary's Baby, we have a carnivorous baby which ultimately eats its way from its mother's womb. The mother also suffers from severe symptoms during pregnancy and takes on a number of moody personalities.
The Unborn is your typical late 80's early 90's 'horror' flick. It does have a number of good scenes, but it could have done a little more. But, not only were some scenes downright disturbing, the film as a whole has a very uneasy atmosphere that helped me stay the course.
I'm not a true fan of films like this, but The Unborn did manage to keep my interest even tho I've seen the same thing a dozen times before. I also liked seeing James Karen in another serious role. I've always been a big fan of Karen and seeing his name on the box is the main reason I picked it up. He's the ONLY reason to watch Tobe Hooper's Invaders From Mars btw.
While definitely not one of best films ever, it's certainly not a bad one. In fact, it's well worth the buck rental. The director (Rodman Flender) did a good job with the visuals. The DP also did a good job Did it leave a lasting impression on me? Well, yes and no. A scene that involves Virginia picking her disposed creature-baby out of the local dumpster in a sudden turn of guilt after her underground abortion stuck with me. Not only this, but there's the opening scene that involves a pregnant woman seemingly eating bloody meat from the fridge in one of those 'I can eat a horse' binges. The husband seems to think all is fine. *It could have been sauce*
To sum it up, The Unborn will keep your head afloat even if it's just enough to breath. For all the blank-shooters out there (I'm not poking fun, I could very well be a blank-shooter myself), don't go to Dr. Myerling. Now, I haven't heard anything on the sequel, but I'll confess - I didn't even know there was a sequel to The Unborn. Hunting it down will give me something to do between griping. It evidently made a little money or there certainly wouldn't have been a sequel. All in all, check it out.
There is a sequel but it's made by different writers & directors most of the orginal cast aren't in it either.it's a more black humoured slap stick continuation of the story much like gremlins the new batch is a more slapstick sequell to the darker first gremlins film
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