MovieChat Forums > Masters of Horror (2005) Discussion > Pro-Life (Spoilers)

Pro-Life (Spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by OneFilmLover
21 replies | jump to latest

LOL!!!!

Son of a bitching hell I just watched John Carpenter's Pro-Life episode and it was HI-LARIOUS!!!

I'm sorry but even as a huge Carpenter fan the episode was Terrible with a capital URRIBLE. (Turrible). Acting was atrocious with only Ron Perlman seeming to get what a joke this all was. The pregnant 15 year old (looking all of 25) was especially awful.

But hell, it was hard not to enjoy the hell out of how cheesy and over-the-top & goofy it was. I mean when someone gets drenched in blood in a horror movie it can be funny but vaginal fluid was just ridiculous! And male abortions? Gag-inducing but so stupidly funny.

This was just a ridiculous black comedy. Can't say it's a recommendable film but if you wanna laugh & maybe gag in your mouth a little it's a fun watch.

This whole thing was just odd since Cigarette Burns was so effective.

There. It's on the Internet. Thus it's official

[–] Madman-Marz 14 years ago

and the sad part is that I think Carpenter only did this for the paycheck.
Listen to the commentary with him and the writers and Carpenter acctually leave during that hour to take a smoke as he doesn´t care for the movie.
Its a shame as the writers seemed to like the movie thou. Me I thought it was OK and absolutely not one of Carpenters better, but C.burns was easily one of the top fives from this series...

VICTIMS AREN´T WE ALL?

[–] cahnd2b 14 years ago

Mixed feelings on this one. A number of aspects were well-handled, and I felt like it showed some real potential in the early scenes. Ron Perlman was solid in his role. He didn't overplay it. Just seemed like he had a lot of conviction. One of the best performances in the whole series.

But yeah, it lost the plot towards the end. I thought the Demon itself actually looked really cool, but at the same time it seemed like a mistake to show it. A lot of the later scenes really felt third-rate horror. Like the sort of thing we've seen before, and done better.

I felt like the baby was a rip-off of something, and then I realised what it was... the spider-head monster from The Thing ... waitasec, that was a John Carpenter movie. I dunno if that makes it okay that he's ripping off himself, but how is it that he was able to make that kinda scene believable and terrifying before, but now it just seems comical and a little pathetic?

Then there was the male abortion scene... I guess that was quite unique, and definitely uncomfortable to watch, but not entirely believable, and a bit of a distraction from the main thrust of the story. I have a bit of a problem with these movies trying to deliver a certain quota of gore and make-em-jump shocks. I'd prefer if they just forget about the horror and work more on the suspense and the atmosphere.

[–] minhas4 13 years ago

You're right about the ending probably being scarier and less corny if they hadn't showed the demon. Despite this, it looked fantastic! And there are so many demonic possession or satanic movies where there is all this hooplah about a demon and you never get to see it in true malevolent form.
I was very satisfied when it popped up!
If only the demonic baby looked better. That lobster with a doll head was laughable.

[–] DisturbedPixie 12 years ago

Yes, the lobster doll head thing was so stupid looking.

Yes, the Demon (devil) looked pretty cool, but something about it made me feel like they showed too much, and then when he started crying about his dead baby, I just cried out, "cry baby, cry!" from a Christmas Story. It was so goofy that they had a demon/devil just get mopey after the anti-christ is killed.

They didn't show him really do anything, except repeat the line he said to the girl's father. Couldn't he have said "Thank you for protecting my baby." or "Out of my way, minion," or something else? The baby is already born and dead, and that's all you have to say, the same exact line as before, re used for the film? to save money or what?

And the male abortion scene with the doctor. It was pretty shocking and disgusting. But where did that come from? The father was on a mission to protect the baby and he decides to stop, when he was almost there, and torture this doctor? They never showed the Demon asking him to do this, and if the Demon did, it is an idiot for allowing it's baby to be in danger. So he came up with this sick procedure on this own and stopped caring about his daughter? She was screaming during this torture scene, and he could have come to help her. She had nobody to help her! The damn doctors all ran away from her and let her be in the room alone with the monster baby. Everyone friggin sucks except her. She did what she had to do, but I was shocked the Demon let her get away with it.

And how did the father not know his daughter was raped by Satan? Did he not ask her? Did he listen to the words of Satan multiple times where he called the daughter a liar, or what? And if Satan talked to him more than telling him to protect the baby, then he should have had more to say to him in person. It was just so silly.

And what happened to the mom and the slut teenager in the parking lot?

This story just had too many ridiculous moments, it felt like a Tales from the Crypt episode. But it almost seemed to have the same feeling as Red State, and I think made a better point about these sheeple (or wolves in sheeps clothing---same thing to me) who listen to any crazy voice in their head and claim they are doing God's will.

[–] BobGunn 12 years ago

I'm a huge Carpenter fan and I'd never seen anything from this series..
So, recently I went out and bought Cigarette Burns and it turned out to be quite a bit better than expected. Kinda reminded me of In The Mouth of Madness.

So, then I went back and got Pro Life...
Ehh.. it's watchable, but pretty disappointing.
The demon showing up was kind of unexpected since I really didn't think they would go there. And while it was a bit corny, it looked kinda cool...
the sounds it made, however... COME ON! Those super generic stock monster/alien sounds that have been used a billion times since the early 90s??

It's EXACTLY like hearing someone playing Doom if they were in a room full of Imps!

As mentioned above, The part in the commentary where Carpenter goes out for a smoke for 10-15 minutes was too perfect!

[–] agentalbert (3140) 4 months ago

The actress playing Angelique (supposedly 15 year old, Angelique) was 26-27 when this was filmed. And she doesn't look any younger than her true age.

[–] Agnelin 13 years ago

I think it was undeliberately funny. Ron Perlman was the only good thing about this installment.

[–] Forgotten_Lore 13 years ago

does carpenter flat out say in the commentery that he doesn't like it? I thought the episode was pretty darn awful myself

[–] mistermojohoho 13 years ago

Why does no one in the abortion clinic have cell phones? And there are doctors! You would think it's 1975...

[–] agentalbert (3140) 4 months ago

Yeah, that really stuck out to me too. I know John Carpenter comes from a world before them, but if the script makes a point of having the telephone line cut, not considering that somebody surely has a cell phone just seems lazy.

[–] perpetual-mind 13 years ago

I actually really enjoyed the episode, in an old corny horror kind of way.

I'm pretty sure it was intentionally corny.

I was so happy when the window lowered and Ron Perlman popped out!

[–] tranceaddict17 13 years ago

Worst ep ever. I found it too fast-directed. Oh, let's make a MoH ep within 20 mins. READY, SET, GO!

[–] Xeokym 13 years ago

Well this is what happens when the story is sh!t & all they concentrate on are the shock & gore. What makes a good horror movie is not always what is shown, but what is left up to the viewers' imaginations. Even with a gore-heavy movie, it should be complimenting a well-written plot, not trying to BE the plot.

»«ëÕ|{¥(V)
I can't understand your crazy moon language.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Shimmer_Me_Timbers 10 years ago

The epsiode was a poorly done rehash of crappy horror but I did enjoy the overall commentary - like the demon weeping over its dead baby, or the pro-life clan being that mass murderers of the epsiode.