THE UNBORN (1991)

Jeff Hayenga, Brooke Adams, Kathy Griffin

THE UNBORN (1991). Director: Rodman Flender. 

Virginia Marshall's (Brooke Adams) last hope to conceive a child lies with fertility specialist Dr. Meyerling (James Karen). Although Virginia, along with her husband Brad (Jeff Hayenga), is delighted when she gets pregnant, she comes to think that there's something unnatural growing inside of her. And that Meyerling, a geneticist by trade, has something to do with it. She has a breakdown on a national television show and is convinced her baby is a monster. Is she as nutty as a fruitcake, or is Meyerling implanting super-babies in women's wombs? 

It's Alive! 

The Unborn is utter schlock that is an embarrassment for all concerned. The movie becomes more ludicrous with every moment, eventually turning into a complete burlesque, and good performances from Adams and Hayenga are completely wasted. The derivative plot combines everything from It's Alive to Children of the Damned with a dose of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the remake of which starred Adams) thrown in for good measure. 

Jeff Hayenga

If that's not bad enough we're introduced to a lesbian couple (one of whom is played by comic Kathy Griffin) at the fertility clinic, and while at first they are treated sympathetically, it later develops that they are a little crazy. They even have negative feelings about males (the incredibly old and tired "lesbians hate men" stereotype), wanting to exclude husbands from birthing classes because they are "outsiders" -- huh? When Kathy Griffin is hammered to death by her girlfriend (don't ask) she keeps screaming at Adams over the phone to call the police and Adams just keeps asking "what's wrong" instead of simply hanging up and calling the police! This is only one of several dumb sequences in the movie, which is, in a word, awful. People who insist there's something profound going on in  this flick need to crack a book sometime.

Verdict: You could call this, say, an examination of baby hatred but the movie has absolutely nothing on its mind. *.