"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.
