Masters of Horror (TV Series) Pro-Life (2006) User Reviews

Ah, "LIFE" - It's "THE THING" We Need...

[cchase · 7/10 · 4 December 2008]

So...are all pro-choice advocates just bloodthirsty liberal baby-killers, who just can't wait to pull apart live fetuses in their spare time? And are all anti-abortionists just unmedicated wack jobs who hear "God's" voice and believe in doing 'His' will, even if saving the life of an unborn child means sacrificing anyone, including the child's mother?

Don't ask John Carpenter. You're not going to find a whole lot of concrete answers here, but with a script by CIGARETTE BURNS' authors Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, Mr. C. certainly explores at least some of the aspects of the argument at their most absurdly extreme in his second outing for MOH, PRO-LIFE.

The story kicks off as two doctors who work at a local women's health clinic (Mark Feuerstein and Emmanuelle Vaugier) nearly run over a frightened young girl (Caitlin Wachs). They take her to the clinic to check her out, not realizing that she is actually Angelique Burcell, the daughter of a violently militant pro-lifer, Dwayne Burcell (the always excellent Ron Perlman from HELLBOY and other genre favorites.) It's already bad enough that the clinic has been fortified for protection from some of the less-than-peaceful overtures from Burcell and his 'associates.' But it's even worse that now he wants his little girl back, and that Angelique is pregnant and wants to have an abortion.

What finally ensues is a cross between ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and THEY LIVE, as Burcell and the clinic's head doctor, Dr. Kiefer (Bill Dow) have a .45 caliber debate about pro-choice vs. pro-life, with some innocent bystanders paying the price even though they're not taking a stand on either side.

Then, because this IS MOH, after all, Carpenter revisits PRINCE OF DARKNESS/THE THING territory, when it becomes pretty clear to the audience why Angelique really does need to have this abortion, and her father's zealous efforts to stop her are even less well- intentioned or accurate than he realizes.

First, the cons, and there are a lot of them. The gore effects are pretty decent when they show up, but the "big reveal" of the father of Angelique's baby - not to mention the 'infant' itself - are about as downright cheesy as anything you can dredge up from the grade-C flicks that Roger Corman used to produce for his New Horizons/Concorde Pictures outfits back in the '80's.

Except for Perlman and Wachs (whose Angelique doesn't look a day over twenty-five when she's supposed to be fifteen), the acting on display here is pretty much non-descript. Everyone's a stock character cliché, and Perlman barely saves his Dwayne Burcell from becoming a caricature of malevolent insanity, especially in one particularly gruesome scene in which he and his son allegedly give Dr. Kiefer his 'just desserts.' (Thankfully, most of that scene is left to the imagination).

McWeeny and Swan's script doesn't attempt to take sides, or to evenly balance the views either way, although I can cautiously guess that director Carpenter does not share the political view expressed in this episode's title. The ambiguity doesn't help the story much, where at least in a previous episode like the controversial HOMECOMING, you knew where both the writer and the director were coming from.

Cody Carpenter's scoring work here won't be to everyone's liking, though I thought it was very reminiscent of his dad's musical stylings from back-in-the-day, and much more complementary than it was in CIGARETTE BURNS.

Biggest pet peeve: Dwayne and two of his sons, after doing some pretty heinous things, just disappear from the movie entirely. There's absolutely no payoff when it would have been really satisfying, so that aspect takes a lot of the starch out of the story (and especially the ending.)

Now for the pluses: Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger's FX work really rocks, though I would've like to have seen more practical stuff. (The CG shots look really fake - and you'll see what I mean). Also love the quick homage to Rob Bottin's groundbreaking work on Carpenter's THE THING (you sharp-eyed fans out there will know it when you see it.)

Caitlin Wachs brings in a decent performance as Angelique, although it's more than a little tough to suspend your disbelief when you realize what age she's supposed to be playing.

And say what you will about Perlman's Burcell, but he is a man of unshakable faith, no matter how insane his deeds are. So it's doubly devastating for him in the end when he learns how badly he's been 'punk'd' (and by who).

Bottom line: PRO-LIFE is a return to the more "classic" Carpenter form. A little bigger budget and a lot more fine tuning on the script could've made this a MOH episode that I would highly recommend. As is, though, I would steer only die-hard Carpenter fans into PRO- LIFE'S direction. And the acting scores here are mostly for Perlman's performance.

Unbalanced, but still engaging

[jdollak · 7/10 · 1 November 2016]

I remember liking this episode more than a lot of the episodes in the second season of Masters of Horror, but I still took a long time to get back to re-watching it.

It's a strange story, since it deals with one of the core divisive issues (at least in the US.) But both times I watched this, I've come away feeling that they didn't actually make any statements about the issue.

It's true that the Father comes across as being the more villainous character, but the Doctor isn't a fully sympathetic character either.

Which brings us to the main problem that the episode has - it seems to lack a point. I suppose, you could sum it up as "don't blindly listen to voices in your head" It's not actually a bad episode though. It's paced well, it develops nicely, and it holds attention. But it's also more forgettable than it should be, and by the end, it feels easy to shrug off.

"Assault on Abortion Clinic 13 " ...meets... "The Thing" ...........

[merklekranz · 5/10 · 24 February 2010]

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

Should have aborted the script

[Cujo108 · 18 September 2010]

For the second season of the show, John Carpenter reunited with the writers of his season one "Masters of Horror" episode. Angelique is a young teen found stumbling along the side of the road by two doctors on their way to work at an abortion clinic. Wanting an abortion, they take her with them. Once at the clinic, it isn't long before her deeply religious father, Dwayne Burcell (Ron Perlman), shows up with his three sons to get her out of there and save the baby by any means necessary. Having had run-ins with him in the past, the head doctor of the clinic even went as far as to have a restraining order taken against Burcell. Meanwhile, Angelique claims that she wants to abort the baby because it's the hell-spawn of a demon that raped her. They don't believe her, but the pregnancy is clearly abnormal.

Having not done a film since 2001's "Ghosts of Mars", Carpenter returned with a vengeance with "Cigarette Burns", one of the best episodes of this show's initial season. As such, his season two contribution was one of my most anticipated. Unfortunately, "Pro-Life" was a crushing disappointment. The story had potential, but didn't live up to any of it due in large part to horrible writing. Perlman is in a big hurry to find his daughter before something happens to the baby. So, why doesn't he just shoot through the clinic doors right off the bat? He's killed a guard, yet he's worried about ruining the clinic's doors? Why waste time looking for another entrance? Oh, that's right, so the girl can tell her rape story. Later, he further wastes time by giving the head doctor a taste of his own medicine. As for anyone looking for thoughtful commentary on the abortion debate, look elsewhere. You'll get none of that here.

Aside from Perlman, nobody in this episode can act worth a damn. The characters aren't at all likable either. For example, look at the main doctor character and his girlfriend. When demon baby shows up, they save their own asses by locking themselves in the next room while leaving a drugged and defenseless Angelique to fend for herself. How noble! Speaking of the demon baby, it looks more like one of the mutilated toys from the first "Toy Story".

We get some horrid CGI head-shots too, which lead to continuity problems. Watch how the side of the guard's head is blown off when he's shot. Well, later, when the nervous kid looks at his body, he only has a hole in the middle of his head.

What I liked about the episode - Perlman's performance, the music during the birthing scene and Perlman's reaction to the demon's revelation. Other than that, there's nothing here. The episode hints at better ideas, but ends up delivering only the most ridiculous and unsatisfying. Carpenter is one of my three favorite filmmakers, and this is the first thing he's done that I've flat-out hated.

Carpenter gives us his take on Roe v Wade...well, not exactly, but it's a nicely gruesome thriller

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 24 November 2006]

John Carpenter doesn't quite reach the comeback high he got last year with Cigarette Burns, the first in his entries in the Masters of Horror series. But it's definitely a showcase for him to display his storytelling panache on a typically grisly and hell-bound tale. He gets to also mix a few elements from past pictures with something that almost borders on being formula for some horror directors following Rosemary's Baby. The story starts out with the kind of weird, religious ambiguity of They Live, as we're thrust into a story that has implications that really are, at least at the start, beyond our thinking. But then we enter in Assault on Precinct 13 mode, as the 'good guys' (err, the doctors who just want to keep Angelique, played by Cailtin Wachs) away from her crazed, God-abiding father Dwayne (Ron Perelman, always a pleasure to see in a role as un-relenting grim and hard-edged as this), which then turns into a gun-blazing blood-bath. And finally, we get the element of the Thing, which, of course, is a 'thing' that baffles everyone, except for the audience.

I'm sure that even if I didn't know the basic premise of Pro-Life, I would've figured it out anyway after the first five, ten minutes. Part of the opening ambiguity is a little random- that Angelique happens to be picked up after running through the woods by doctors working at a women's medical clinic- but from there on it is pretty thrilling work done, and pretty graphic. The make-up and special effects from Gregoy Nicotero's team, per usual, are top-notch, and being on the 'anything-goes-type' of cable channel doesn't hurt either. If anything it also provides Carpenter- via his writers- to have one of the most cringe-worthy scenes Carpenter's ever done, which is Perelman's own 'abortion' on a certain doctor as penance for something that happened to one of his kids. Some of this, too, is quite funny, mostly with the demon baby and the circumstances around it (i.e. when Angelique's water breaks, it ain't exactly water), plus the baby itself. Whether it's meant to be funny or not I can't say, but there's no mistaking that underneath some of this terrifying and harsh subject matter, is Carpenter making his own satirical jab at the abortion issue (and what side he really takes could be anyone's call, though the reverse of the title is what I'm leaning towards).

Unlike Cigarette Burns though, Pro-Life is not without its liabilities- some major ones in fact. One of those is Cody Carpenter's musical score, which in spots isn't bad but in its repetitive mode (over half an hour of a rhythmic beat that only stops at a certain point), and it detracts at time from the total potential of the true excitement; his father has proved to be much better at maintaining this kind of score for the material. And the ending, while not a total disaster, is very strange to me, and had me with a look on my face like 'uh, OK'. I suppose it ends up fitting into a kind of twisted catharsis for Angelique's situation, but even for the amount of disbelief needed it's a big leap to take. But all this aside, I was very glad I got to see one of the masters of modern horror having his fun with the material, and giving some good screen time for such Perelman, who it could be argued gets to steal his scenes however in such a style that works for the demented, voice-guided character.

Masters of Horror entry.

[jazza923 · 6/10 · 26 March 2010]

59/100. The main thing about this film that really bothered me through most of it was when the phone lines were cut. Okay, this is made in 2006, so you are telling me none of the dozen or so people in the building didn't have a cell phone to call the police? That old cutting the phone lines routine doesn't work anymore. It worked fine and added suspense to movies from other decades, but not today. As a story it was interesting, a sort of twist on Rosemary's Baby. It can be very unpleasant at times, and if you can get past the plot holes, it's pretty good. The acting is fine, good special effects for the most part. It certainly has it's creepy moments.

Absolutely horrible

[rintrah-1 · 2/10 · 7 December 2006]

I was looking forward to seeing John Carpenter's episode in Season 2 because his first, Cigarette Burns, was by far the best from Season 1 (and I did like other episodes from that season). Oh, how I was disappointed.

In fairness to Carpenter I think the primary problem with this episode was absolutely horrible writing. The characters, aside from the subject matter, seemed to behave and speak as though they were written for an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. The acting was bad, and I normally like Ron Perlman a lot, but I can only blame them so much because the writing was so horrible. I'm not going to try to guess what the writers were trying to do because that would be useless but it appeared as though they were trying to mix horror (obviously) with some form of social commentary on abortion and religion. In this case, not surprisingly, it seemed a chance to bash a certain variety or religious nuts as well as fanatical anti-abortionists. And I am in favor of both aims but it was done so horribly that I was embarrassed to watch characters act and speak with such stupid inconsistency. This failed totally to offer any worthwhile opinion on the subjects and the horror element failed as well alongside such inept writing.

While I don't think Carpenter can be blamed for most of the badness here I will say he did choose to direct the teleplay and therefore has that to be held responsible for. There are a couple small bits that I found nice, hence the 2 stars I gave it.

The actual gore and monster effects were good, but the CGI gore (two separate gunshots to the head) were so obviously inferior quality CGI they should've never been given the OK. I'm generally very critical of CGI but not because I have a problem with it in principle. I have a problem with the execution of it. The technology, while amazing in some respects, is not good enough to match "real" effects, whether they be miniatures or gore especially when it is supposed to match something organic and/or alive, and therefore shouldn't be used until they are. CGI can be used well in small amounts or obviously if the whole film is animated.

I'll also take this opportunity to note that the show title, Masters of Horror, is a bad title to have. There simply aren't many actual "masters of horror" around. Maybe two or three. If the show were called "Tale of Horror" or something like that it would be fine. But as it stands the criteria for directing one of these episodes, and therefore being criticized for not being a "master of horror" is that they have directly at least one horror film in their career. And it didn't even have to be a good one.

Something's wrong

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 28 June 2010]

Of course, we are talking about a Masters of Horror episode here. It couldn't just be a simple "problem" we (and the characters) are facing here. Still, especially considering his Cigarette Burns episode, this almost feels like a step back. It's not a bad story, it's just pretty conventional and predicable.

Ron Perlman almost made me give this another star, I just like that guy, whatever role he's playing. And his character is most definitely the most complex one in this. The complete opposite to that is Emmanuelle Vaugiers character. She doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. And while looking good doing that (she always does), you wish she had something to say (not literally speaking).

There are quite a few other movie influences here that you will spot. Some are mentioned in other reviews, but all in all, if you are an avid moviegoer you will spot them yourself. That's not entirely a bad thing and even that a scene (you could call it "the inciting incident") is not really graphic, shouldn't be a problem. A more than decent episode than, but more action orientated than pure Horror (just saying in case you were expecting something like the Cigarette Burning episode)

Pure Rubbish

[sumsaris · 1/10 · 4 December 2006]

SLIGHT SPOILERS (but it doesn't matter anyway).

An exercise in gobblygook of catastrophic proportions not even worthy of the l0 lines I need to put these remarks on the netwaves. This is the single worst episode of the Masters series to date and the first that qualifies for the defunct Mystery Science Theatre treatment. Even if it took me a full half hour to realize the intended ironic angle, it was still a very lame mess. Its sole value lies in the perspective that forces one to realize that in addition to gore and ugly masks the genre only succeeds when the classic cinematic notions of photography and lighting, dialogue and acting, editing and timing are put to use. Here they are absent and John Carpenter is no master. Period. And no trite analysis of the easy social comment herein will change that. Oddly, Carpenter never has been anything more than a B director, but at least such films as 'Fog' and 'The Thing' had terrific atmosphere (the latter is one of my cult favorites).

Abominable acting. Camera angles stuck in cement. Tensionless rhythm. Yet perhaps the single most obnoxious element of the episode is the storyline which of course JC cannot really be blamed for (unless the writers were buddies of Cody.) The initial two minute slo-mo of a girl running through a forest only to be nearly run over by a would be Scully-Mulder duo is the first and last thing that works in the film. But come on, a girl hurtling through a deserted woods to nowhere in particular in desperate need of an abortion fortuitously rendez-vous with the fender of a pair of 'women's rights' MDs whose clinic just happens to be at the end of the road around the corner. Oh, and I won't even nitpick about how the doc whips the accidentee into the car and speeds away at 0 to 60 in six seconds. Does wonders for possible broken ribs or concussion.

Then things fall apart real quick. The vacuous dialogue "I just want to help you", the interminably sluggish back and forth at the gate, grandiose battle tactics like cutting the telephone line (in the age of cell phones?) followed by the the shoot-out: a born-again Ramboesque clinic director vs Ron Perlman and the high school bullpen out for a few kicks at Easter break. Another lovely line: "So what are we going to do?" from the kid who had just been sitting on a pile of assault rifles in the back of the van. Er, no it isn't yet pheasant season. So who needs those teen boys anyway. What about the good old tried and true method of the lone lunatic who bashes his way through the gate with his all-American SUV?

As for the exchange of bullets scenes themselves, the cuts here were as stiff as the staccato of a DC comics strip. All that was lacking were the Wham, Bam, and Whiz of the balloon titles. And all to the tune of a soundtrack worthy of an old Mannix episode.

At one point we learn that Daddy isn't really the daddy, but at this point we haven't been led to care much any more either. This story's single source of drama is the conflict between the pro-life father and his pregnant daughter who is only thankful she's not having twins. Yet there is not a single scene, flashback or not, where they are actually ever found together. They remain mere abstractions to each other throughout.

With the exception of the gatekeeper every single one of the characters is absolutely dislikeable. Bland, hysterical, dull-headed, macho. As perfectly flat as human wallpaper can be. None of the doctors seem to have anything medical about them. And there's that bickering Dad who rails at his pregnant daughter as though he himself were the stressed out boyfriend. He fortunately got his. There are two great MST-worthy comic moments: the gusher when Angelica's plumbing goes out and later the new-born lobster with a glued on baby's head. Also cute was Angelica's rugby ball belly before she finally popped the right-to-life little monster from Hell. As for that audacious male abortion scene...well, they should have retained Miike's episode and banned this one instead.

In short, a 3rd rate Rosemary's Baby meets Alien set on the turf of a M.A.S.H. episode. This stinker alone, appreciable only to today's permissive under-16 generation, will assure as someone else said here, that this series will not be renewed for a third season. A real shame, since there have been a number of brilliant productions, including such really decent spoofs as Dante's 'Homecoming' or McKee's deliciously quirky 'Sick Girl'. Not to mention the superb imagery of Malone's 'Fairhaired Child'.

Sorry John Carpenter, I believe your directing days are over. It's time to run for President.

Gruesome John Carpenter episode

[Coventry · 7/10 · 5 September 2010]

"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.

A Mix ... A Mess ...

[Vic_max · 5/10 · 4 December 2006]

Not his best work - but watchable. John Carpenter shows traces of his ability to be a great director in this movie - but it is not enough. The idea behind the script is clever, but the movie is mediocre ...

On the surface, the set-up of the story is reasonable: a 15 year old girl at an abortion clinic is having a very unusual pregnancy and her father (a pro-life activist) is trying to remove her.

Since it's a John Carpenter movie, you can expect horror, monsters, killing, dramatic tone and more. The movie gets reasonably good marks on all those. Unfortately though - it never gets interesting or engaging.

What ruins this movie are the glaring mistakes. They are inexcusably bad. Body pieces are missing one moment, then are very clearly back the next. The father complains to 'God' about something important (won't spoil what it is), but that 'something' doesn't happen in the story! Almost as bad are some of the actions of the doctor involved in the pregnancy. Even a reasonable teenager would be more believable. After finally watching his response to a burning face, I gave up trying to make sense of anything.

It looks like Carpenter did this movie with one eye closed. Not a very good effort. Skip it unless you're a die-hard John Carpenter fan.

Fun and gory, not the mess some say

[refined_cujo-1 · 8/10 · 23 April 2007]

Look I went into this with low expectations given things I've read within the internet community ... but I'll be damned if this isn't one of the more fun and MOH episodes. It is however the type you have to make sacrifices for. You have to switch of your logic and be willing to overlook some plot holes and cover your ears for the occasionally poorly delivered line- but man, this is definitely a Carpenter film. It has his trademarks all over it, more so than Cigarette Burns. This has the look, the sound, the gloss and grime of a carpenter movie. I love it because it has all the basic elements of other films of his and is basically an awkward cut and paste best of assembler, but what the hey! its a ball. It is funny, with a nice score (although I can understand why some may have issues with it), features some great effects (one of which is genuinely urn-nerving, towards the end- a combination of practical and CGI- trust me, you will know it when you see it) and with some nice acting from 60percent of the cast. Perlman is great, just as he was in Desperation- with another juicy scenery chewing role.

In terms of expectation, don't go into this with another Cigarette Burns in mind. Think of it this way:

Cigarette Burns = Halloween Pro-Life= The Fog, Prince of Darkness, Village of the Damned

Have some fun, the message is nicely done and is at times quite disturbing, so be warned. A mess, but an entertaining mess at that.

Gory, Mind-Bending Film... Original, But Incomplete

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 18 January 2007]

A teenage girl goes to an abortion clinic to have her baby aborted, saying it is God's will. At the same time, her father and three brothers decide to overtake the clinic guerrilla-style because killing abortionists is God's will. Things get even messier when the doctors suspect that the teenager was impregnated by her own father. Perhaps the film could have been called "Assault on Abortion Clinic 13".

Some good things can be said about this episode. For example, Caitlin Wachs (who plays the lead, Angelique Burcell, and is best known for playing Penny in "Inspector Gadget 2") is amazing. From the first frame with her running, she struck me as a very good lead... not sure why, but she did. And Ron Perlman (aka "Hellboy") as her father. Wow, you couldn't cast a better God-loving maniac.

And they deal with abortion issues, which is always a tough thing to do. Granted, this is a horror show and not a political or religious program, but I think they did a fine job of making the audience question themselves -- making both sides of the issue look like they should consider the alternative.

But despite these things -- and some great gore shots -- there was something missing. The biggest thing I noticed was the film quality. It appeared to be more like a made-for-TV movie than an actual film. The quality of a crappy Stephen King mini-series. And yeah, technically these are made-for-TV movies, but this was the first one so far I really felt like it was.

Also, who did the makeup and costumes. I don't want to blame Lyn Kelly, so it must have been someone else (and I won't bother to look who it was offhand). I don't want to ruin anything, but at one point there is a creature that makes an appearance... and it is obviously a man in a rubber suit. I don't expect perfection (many films succeed with poor costumes) but the costume was just so cheesy... there was no way to be scared or take the creature seriously.

This is the second episode of Season Two I have watched, and both have let me down. Please don't tell me the series is already on a downward spiral. I was really hoping for a season three and four to blow my mind -- so many masters have not touched this show yet. So, I was disappointed by the series and I was disappointed by John Carpenter. I know he can make some crap ("Ghosts of Mars") but he has such a rich history, too. Yet, you should see this for the same reason you watched "Homecoming" -- the issues raised make the movie's failings tolerable.

The master may have lost it completely

[ODDBear · 3/10 · 11 October 2008]

Well well well. As good as John Carpenter's season 1 outing in "Masters of Horror" was, this is the complete opposite. He certainly proved he was still a master of horror with "Cigarette Burns" but "Pro-Life" is perhaps the worst I have seen from him.

It's stupid, totally devoid of creepy atmosphere and tension and it overstays it's welcome, despite the less-than-an-hour running time. The script is nonsense, the characters are irritable and un-appealing and the conclusion is beyond absurd.

And for those suckers who actually bought the DVD (one of them being me); did you see how Carpenter describes the film? He's actually proud of it and he talks about it as his best work for a long time, and he praises the script. And in the commentary track, where he notices an obvious screw up that made it to the final cut, he just says he didn't feel it essential to rectify the mistake and he just let it be there. I fear the old master has completely lost his touch. I sincerely hope I'm proved wrong.

I want to leave on a positive note and mention that the creature effects are awesome, though. Technically speaking, this film is top notch, with effective lighting schemes and make up effects.

A stellar episode that sadly felt choppy and frustrating at times.

[Kevlar01 · 26 November 2006]

Pro-Life was a pretty odd episode. There was a LOT of good but sadly some of this was diminished by a few plot holes and scenes that were cut far too short. Perhaps it was due to the time restraint but there were plenty of times when it seemed like big events just ended abruptly and weren't concluded properly. The fate of many characters were left unseen and some seemingly important details regarding the bizarre pregnancy seemed to be missing. In the end, the film actually leaves more questions than answers and this is slightly frustrating to say the least.

Now I'm not somebody who has to have all the answers spoon fed to him when it comes to movies, nor do I feel like I need to see everything that happens to characters in most films; leaving some things to the imagination is always a welcomed aspect to a certain extent (such as in many great Miike films). But in Pro-Life I was SO involved with everything going on that I had an overwhelming urge to see it all play out. Sadly, many events and fates felts unfinished and there was just TOO much left to the imagination.

Some vague questions that were left lingering with me (as I'm trying to be as spoiler free as humanly possible here) included: What happened to so-and-so? Did this person actually make it out? What was the role of the baby in the big picture? Etc.

On the positive, those are the only real problems with Pro-Life. Everything else is phenomenal in the grand canon of Masters of Horror. Carpenter yet again delivers on some genuine thrills, vicious scenes of gore, and incredible visual effects. And it's all very, very, very entertaining. As for our villains here, Ron Perlman and his sons are fantastic as the blind, naive, and self-proclaimed righteous hands of God. They are relentless in their attack on the Hospital and show absolutely no wavering in their crusade (well with the exception of one of his sons).

The installment has a strong "take no prisoners" sort of feel to it in that you are never fully certain as to whether or not ANYBODY is going to survive the whole ordeal. This aspect of it is extremely engrossing and tense. Those that deserve whats coming to them, get what's coming to them (or so it can be assumed as this is where some of the frustrations mentioned above come in). And the innocents (for the most part) are left hanging in the balance of life and death all the way through.

I can only wonder/hope that there will be an extended version of this on DVD perhaps as the aforementioned loose ends deserved more attention. Still, with the budget involved and time constraints for a TV episode Pro-Life is a fantastic effort for Season 2. Just go into it with an open mind and try as hard as you can to not compare it with Cigarette Burns and I'm sure you'll find a fair deal of enjoyment.

My final rating for Pro-Life is a 7.5 but I have chosen to round it up to an 8 as I feel I'll likely enjoy Pro-Life even more on subsequent viewings. Bravo Carpenter. Bravo.

the thing remake for teenies

[trashgang · 6/10 · 6 June 2013]

I was looking forward for John carpenter's entry in this excellent series but what a mess this was. I didn't like it at all. This isn't another Halloween (1978) or The Thing (1982) two of his masters pieces. This episode was even a bit boring because nothing happened. What really saved Pro-Life are the effects done by Berger and Nicotero.

Dwayne (Ron Perlman) a religious man wants to save his daughter from abortion. She's only 15 years old. But soon at the clinic the doctors come beware that she's being raped only one week earlier and it's already time to give birth. God is telling Dwayne to let the baby live but the baby is made by a demon.

What did work is one gunshot that goes into the neck of a youngster. That looked messy but the demon itself was a pure fifties, a man in a rubber suit monster and once the demon baby is born it did remind me of The Thing but again. Nothing else really happens except a lot of discussions going on. Further we do have one nice CGI gunshot in the head but by then it's all too late.

This is clearly one of the bad things Carpenter has done. It isn't creepy or doesn't have one element of horror in it. Avoid it, you wont regret it.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Masters Of Horror: PRO-LIFE (TV) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 23 January 2010]

The second John Carpenter episode in the series is pretty good if clearly a lesser achievement than his previous one, CIGARETTE BURNS (2005), which had been one of the very best. Still, for all the genre felicities and competent acting (especially mismatched father Ron Perlman and daughter Caitlin Wachs) on display here, the overall impression remains that of being a disparate collage of earlier and much superior movies like ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968; the demon impregnating a human being), LEGEND (1985; the look of the demon is virtually identical to Tim Curry's Darkness), as well as Carpenter's own ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976; the besieged institution i.e. abortion clinic) and THE THING (1982; the hybrid look of the monster infant). As with most contemporary horror fare, there is much unnecessary splatter/gore effects but these strike one as ludicrous (such as when a brain is blown off merely from a hand-gun bullet)! At least, Carpenter's son Cody provides an effectively subtle, piano-led score a' la his father's classic theme for HALLOWEEN (1978).

Another from someone who has no idea of the subject matter

[revsolly · 1/10 · 16 July 2011]

Why is it that those who have no idea what the people they portray, or write about, really think continue to thrive? They obviously don't write from experience. Ergo, with any role they play, or with any script, they are creating pure fiction.

What Carpenter was attempting to do is anyone's guess. However, to portray "pro-lifers" as gun-happy, violent maniacs is just too ridiculous for words.

I must assume that Carpenter was trying to ask some question like, "Would they be pro-life if the baby is the spawn of Satan?" He winds up asking, "How can I be so inept and still have so many think I am great?" Here is an idea for Hollywood: Why not have a conservative portray a conservative? Why not have a military person play a military person? Why not have a Christian portray a Christian? Oh yeah! That would leave no room for the propaganda.

John Carpenter's Pro-Life

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 5 April 2008]

An abortion clinic is besieged by an enraged activist and his boys because his pregnant 15 year old daughter wants her unborn demonic child(!)killed before birth.

Yep, Dwayne Burcell(Ron Perlman, not overplaying the role, playing his character less intense, and more like a burdened father)has been a nuisance towards the abortion clinic to the point that they got a restraining order against him. A religious man, pro-life, has a pregnant young daughter who wants an abortion..certainly rife with irony and the true meat of this Masters of Horror episode's story. The daughter, Angelique Burcell(Caitlan Wachs), was molested and impregnated by the demon whose hands rose from the earth to pull underground from a swing-set. Dr Alex(Mark Feuerstein)and his nurse/lover Kim(Emmanuelle Vaugier)are the ones Angelique confides in to kill the thing inside her. This episode also has another family with a grumpy father who shows his disgust towards his young daughter rather loudly.

A monster movie with social commentary, much like the old days whether it was stopping nuclear testing or catching commies, John Carpenter's mini-film focuses on the issue of murdering an unborn child. I didn't find the story as a whole satisfying, but I liked the idea of having a film about abortion where both sides have their say. But, this episode goes a bit off the rails when Dwayne, believing it's God's will to save his daughter's unborn child(..it was actually a demon whispering to him in prayer), performs a similar abortion procedure on the head of the clinic, Dr. Kiefer(Bill Dow). I found this rather unpleasant exercise a bit over-the-top in the examination of how the child might feel if it were eliminated by the hand of a physician. Not only does this exercise take an insane amount of time(..time he could be spending searching for his daughter), but it paints Dwayne, who seems rather reasonable, into a sociopathic monster. Perhaps that's the point, but it's awfully chest-pounding. Was it really God's will for Dwayne to torture and cruelly administer that procedure on Kiefer making him "see how it felt to be killed the way the unborn infants were." That's an extreme example of how religious folks protesting against abortion must seem to the writers of this episode. There's one murder, Dwayne's weak son kills the father of a family for no apparent reason whatsoever, that should've been left out of the episode..it serves no real purpose other than to show that the sins of a father can influence a son.

The monster is quite nifty. Sure it's a demon creature suit with a man inside, but I was proud to see it in this episode. While the gore effects from gun shot wounds were clearly CGI, seeing a good old fashioned monster, not created digitally was a great thrill to this horror fan. The half-human/half-demon baby is obviously modeled somewhat from the spider-head of Carpenter's "The Thing"..it's quite a wild concoction. The CGI effects consist of Dwayne blowing a hole through one victim's skull with brains splattering on the sidewalk, and a shootout resulting in one of Dwayne's sons getting caught in the throat opening a bloody wound. I found the CGI effects underwhelming, but okay..I've seen worse. I'd say this is an entertaining, if flawed, episode in the series, with some great, and not-so-great moments. I do feel the message of the film regarding abortion comes across as muddled..perhaps siding with the pro-choice crowd.

Completely awful in every way...

[thealtmangoodbye · 1/10 · 20 August 2007]

Wow. The only people reviewing this positively are the Carpenter apologists. I know a lot of those. The guys that'll watch John Carpenter squat on celluloid and pinch out a movie and proclaim it a masterwork of horror. This "movie" is utter crap. It looks and sounds like a porno (good lord, the soundtrack is awful...), and has sub-par porn acting, which is shocking, because normally Ron Perlman is really a very good actor. I honestly have no idea what Carpenter was thinking when making this. Most likely "Beans, beans, beans.." until somebody fed him and rolled him up into a blanket for the day... They say nothing about the abortion debate whatsoever, when they could have had a very interesting central theme (how do religious zealot anti-abortionists feel when it's the devil's baby?) but instead they chose to have Ron Perlman and his terribly acted kids kill a bunch of people and have the horribly cast doctors try to calm the hysterically bad pregnant girl. Not a single person from this episode or what have you should come away unscathed. It's just awful. Like, Plan 9 From Outerspace awful. Like, good god please would somebody turn it off before I soil myself awful. Try watching this and The Thing in the same day and your mind will implode.

Pro-Life

[darkhourarcher2000 · 1/10 · 14 December 2006]

A plot that fizzled and reeked of irreconcilable differences in opinions constituted a judgmental havoc with one side pro-life and the other a destroyer of a demon's seed. The horror was left out and replaced with an overall dull effect quite possibly meant to be horrific, but, instead demonstrated an ill dose of beliefs which ridiculed each other to death, despite the title itself. Being a fan of Masters of Horror since the beginning, this ridiculous plot twist with it's sordid depictions crashed apart like a spindly old rocking chair after being sat upon. I view this episode as being thrown together from the get go, never really taking off anywhere other than to see it through for what its worth and relieved when it finally came to "The End"..

Classic Carpenter

[dodonoghu · 9/10 · 27 October 2006]

Not a slight return to form from Carpenter but a complete return to form. Very much along the lines of Assault from precinct 13 both plotwise and stylewise as result from improvising on a 5 mil budget. The badguys want into an abortion clinic and the goodguys want out but as the plot progresses the distinguishing begins to blur.Niccetro does a phenomenal job on makeup effects so much so I was questioning whether the climactic effect was cgi or not... very slick.

Good performances across the board. Good music from Cody Carpenter completely suited to his fathers film style. IMHO better than cigarette burns.Plenty of squeamish bits. Carpenter is operating well in a less oppressive film production system. I will jump at a DVD release A must see for fans like me!

Why did they have to ruin it

[Bored_Dragon · 6/10 · 4 May 2018]

A pregnant girl arrives at the abortion clinic and insists that her pregnancy is terminated immediately. Soon after arrives her pro-life father, a religious fanatic, accompanied by her older brothers, and attacks the clinic to save his grandchild. The film begins as a redneck drama, but soon turns into a supernatural horror, in John Carpenter's recognizable style. A good story, convincing atmosphere, striking music and decent acting, and if they just refrained from explicitly portraying the "baby" and her father, this would be a solid seven. But in the end they just had to ruin it with well-done, but completely ridiculous and unconvincing monsters and replace eerie tension with "wtf is this crap" moment.

5,5/10

The Worst Yet (Spoilers)

[tomcon21 · 2/10 · 26 November 2006]

This installment of Masters of Horror was terrible. Apparently, Mr. Carpenter needs to learn a thing or two about pacing and decent, plausible dialog. There were times when I literally shouted at the TV for something to happen. Maybe he thinks he building suspense, but Carpenter needs to trim back that overdone, over-simplified musical score of his (or his son's) and advance the action a little bit. How many times did the girl say, "Oh no, I can't have this baby!" and "Oh, no here it comes"? Carpenter takes elements from much, much better films (Assault on Precinct 13 and The Thing) and throws them in here as if we are supposed to acknowledge and appreciate his trademark style. What is lacking here is genuine suspense and energy. It's as though he's sleepwalking through the process of movie making.

For better Carpenter films, stick to the tried and true classics-- The Thing, Halloween, and They Live. For better masters of horror episodes, check out my personal favorites: Family, Jenifer, and Dreams in the Witch House.

Awful

[mattatpt · 27 November 2006]

Awful, uninventive, with b-movie special effects and even worse story.

Cigarette Burns was far superior, it had tension and atmosphere. this was just gore for the sake of gore held together by a lame unoriginal story, with awful special effects.

Season 2 of Masters has been very disappointing this time around, and Horrors are getting worse and worse.

I'm a big fan of John Carpenter which is why I was let down so Badly, there's many many more better stories out there.

If your a Carpenter fan, watch it purely so u can say you've seen it, but if your not, it's not worth the hour it takes to sit through it.