Pro-Life (2006)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Overrated and overhyped

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

"Pro-Life" actually reminded me a little bit about all those pathetic late 80's/early 90's made-for-TV movies based on real-life tragedies. You know the ones I'm talking about… They usually always starred former sitcom stars (like from "Beverly Hills 90210 etc…) and dealt with topics like unwanted teenage pregnancies, rape and forced abortions. "Pro-Life" features some of those elements as well, but naturally lengthened with totally bonkers and over-the-top grotesque horror ingredients à la John Carpenter. His episode "Cigarette Burns" already was one of the highlights of season one, and "Pro-Life" definitely ranks amongst the finest efforts of season two. It's a fast-paced and incredibly gory short film with a handful of original ideas and truckloads of disturbing imagery, but sadly also an underdeveloped screenplay. Perhaps John Carpenter needed to make this a long-feature film, so that he could elaborate on some of the potentially very intriguing aspects of the story. Two doctors working in the private abortion clinic ran by Dr. Kiefer pick up a young and tremendously confused pregnant teenager by the side of the road. The girl claims to have been raped by a demon from hell that attacked her one week earlier in her backyard. The doctors naturally don't believe the story, but have to admit the fetus grows at an incredible rate and shows many signs of being pure evil. Meanwhile, the girl's father and brothers are outside the gates of the abortion clinic. Dwayne Burcell is a reputed troublemaker and religious fanatic who came into conflict with Dr. Kiefer before. Now he's determined to get his daughter out of the clinic and, especially, rescue the baby because God ordered him to. Qualifying as a genuine Masters of Horror installment, "Pro-Life" contains a lot of truly grueling images (like close range shotgun kills) and flamboyant special effects and monster designs. There are also some very icky moments, like when Dwayne uses the surgical instruments to perform an abortion on a male patient. Yikes! As said, the screenplay is sadly underdeveloped. Carpenter borrows terrific elements from previous horror classics (including some of his own work, like "The Thing") but it's all very incoherent and lacking logical sense. But since sense isn't the most vital elements I expect to find in a Masters of Horror episode, I can still safely say I loved "Pro-Life". Watch this if you want extreme gore and a stellar performance from Ron Perlman.

Not really very original, since clearly elements of both "Assault on Precinct 13" and "The Thing" are rather obvious. In addition, lots of plot holes get in the way. The effects are alright, but there are some annoying flaws, the most glaring being why no one has a cell phone to call police, after the phone lines are cut? Ron Perlman is in his comfort zone, as the psycho pro-life father, assaulting the abortion clinic where his daughter is being attended to by the rather naive staff. Another weak point in the script is why Perlman continues to torture the doctor, when his daughter is screaming at the top of her lungs just down the hall? "Pro Life" has lots of screaming, but not much meaning. - MERK

Could anyone please stop John Carpenter from continuously and deliberately ruining his reputation? How low can you go? It seems this man has lost any self respect.This episode looks like it has been done by a film student, it isn't even worth beginning to talk about WHAT was bad, because it was just a borefest, directed by somebody with no talent as a filmmaker or without any motivation...Come on, Mr. Carpenter, please retire immediately with a rest of self-esteem and stop spilling out trash like this in a bad tradition from Escape from L.A. to Ghosts of Mars.Get drunk instead.

MUCHO SPOILERSReading the comments I am reminded what an utterly weird country the USA is. The most socially backward and most technically advanced of all the rich countries, Only in such a F'ed up place, this TV movie could be viewed as controversial.In general, the anti-abortion crowd gets a bad deal here, and rightly so. By calling it Pro-Life, and then paint the pro-lifers in a one dimensional gun toting and gun-using kinda way, Carpenter made a firm and sardonic statement against those who think that they have a God given right to kill doctors who work in abortion clinics. Aside from the fact that it has been scientifically, peer-reviewed proved, that abortion is responsible for the drop in the crime-rate, abortion continues to be not murder, even the USA!! According to the USA supreme court, it STILL is legal, but yes, we can wonder for how long.But the ultimate joke on the bible-thumping killers is played when the the socallled voice of God that has been speaking to the fanatic is actually Satan and the baby is some sort of spider-monster. The message is as clear as it is crude: anti-abortionists are instruments of the DEVIL masquerading as christians ...