''The Unborn'' is a 1991 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

horror film directed by

Rodman Flender Rodman Flender (born June 9, 1962) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Early life and education Flender was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Enid (née Rodman), a former Broadway dancer, and Harold ...

and starring Brooke Adams, Jeff Hayenga,

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

K Callan Katherine Elizabeth Callan (née Borman; January 9, 1936) is an American author and actress known for playing Clark Kent's mother Martha in the ABC television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Early years Callan was born ...

, and Jane Cameron. The film's plot concerns a couple who cannot have children; they attempt

in-vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

, but strange things start happening to the mother while she is pregnant.

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...

and

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

have small roles.

Plot

The story centers around a married couple. The infertile wife Virginia ( Brooke Adams) and her husband Brad Marshall ( Jeff Hayenga) decide to join an experimental in-vitro fertilization program developed by Dr. Richard Meyerling (

). The trial succeeds, but during the pregnancy Virginia finds that something unusual is happening to the fetus. A further investigation shows that she is part of an experiment conducted by an insane doctor.

Cast

* Brooke Adams as Virginia Marshall * Jeff Hayenga as Brad Marshall *

as Dr. Richard Meyerling *

as Martha Wellington *

as Connie * Angelina Estrada as Isabel * Jonathan Emerson as Mark Robinson * Janice Kent as Cindy *

as Louisa

Production

Writer John D Brancato says the film was inspired by "killer mutant baby stories like '' It's Alive''". They had previously written ''

Bloodfist II ''Bloodfist II'' is a 1990 American martial arts action film directed by Andy Blumenthal and starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Kris Aguilar, and Ronald Asinas. It was written by Catherine Cyran. Plot The film opens with Jake Raye as he fight ...

'' for Corman.Chris Nashawaty, ''Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie'', Abrams, 2013 p 219 Filming took place in October 1990. It was the first film directed by Flender who described it has a cross between '' Rosemary's Baby'' and '' The Fly''. It was the first feature film as cinematographer for

Wally Pfister Walter C. Pfister (born July 8, 1961) is an American director and former cinematographer, who is best known for his work with filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Some of his collaborations with Nolan include '' Memento'' (2000), ''The Dark Knight Tri ...

who worked for Roger Corman for a number of years. He later recalled, "I had something I wanted to try with color and light. But it’s ghastly. At the same time, I cut myself slack, because my creative reach went beyond my skill level. That’s a really important thing to note. I had great ideas. But if you don’t have the skill level, you’re never going to master the artistry. That’s where I was early on. And I needed to put the hard work in and slowly work my way up." Adams said the film was a "pleasant surprise" for her and at one stage discussed with Corman the possibility of directing the sequel.

Reception

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called the film "an efficient, scary sci-fi thriller", commending its screenplay as well as Adams's character and performance; he concluded that the film "is laudable adult entertainment on all counts except one: There is a gratuitous, sneering put-down of lesbians who are in turn ignorantly stereotyped as man-haters." Joan Bunke of ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

'' gave the film a score of one out of five stars, calling it "as predictable as the phases of the moon", and writing: "Flender's movie, clearly made on a low budget, looks underdressed and underlit – as cheap as its story framework."

Sequel

The film was followed by a sequel, '' The Unborn 2'', released in 1994.

References

External links

*
Review
at Los Angeles Times
Review of film
at Den of Geek * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unborn 1991 films 1991 horror films 1990s science fiction horror films Films produced by Roger Corman American pregnancy films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Rodman Flender 1991 directorial debut films 1990s American films