Born starts as a demon torturer from the 13th level of hell named Asmodeus (Kane Hodder) request to speak to Dr Sammael (Joan Severance) a psychiatrist, he admit that he is a demon from hell & that Satan stole his soul & that they have agreed to a deal in which he gets it back & for him to become human again. Asmodeus tells Dr. Sommael that he raped his sister Mary Elizabeth (Alison Brie) on Earth & got her pregnant, still a virgin Mary Elizabeth's family believe that it's some miraculous act of God & possibly the reincarnation of Christ but Asmodeus knows different. The demon baby is due to be born on the 1st November, an evil Satnatic festival called the Day of the Dead. Leading up to that time the demon baby needs six sacrifices & possesses Mary Elizabeth & makes her kill in order to get them. Is Asmodeus crazy? Can Dr. Sommael help him? Or is there some truth to his bizarre story?
Produced & directed by Richard Friedman I am not entirely sure that Born was made as a comedy horror but if it wasn't then it sure does a good impression of being one & an entertainingly daft one at that. According to the IMDb there's a version of Born which runs 105 minutes, one which runs 107 minutes & the so-called 'original version' runs 118 minutes, I definitely saw the two hour cut & even though I wonder what the shorter version has cut out I have no real desire to find out. The script by Alex D'Lerma who also stars in the film as Father Nick the murdering Priest plays like various religious themed supernatural horror films, the likes of Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Omen (1976, 2006) & The Exorcist (1973) all readily spring to mind while watching Born & you can clearly see their influence on it. Even at almost two hours I quite liked Born, it just about kept my interest, the plot keeps moving & I didn't find it boring either. There are some truly bizarre & oddball moments in Born, a demon from hell seeking psychiatric help, said demon raping his sister, Mary Elizabeth's strict religious sister, her slutty friend who works on sex chat lines, Mary Elizabeth's nipples oozing green goo, a former assassin turned Priest, an albino graveyard caretaker, a few off the wall twists, cannibalism, heart removals, demonic possession, Satanic rituals, sex, castration & Joan Severance as Satan, what more do you want? The film is a bit of a mess but it's a funny & often amusing mess which kept me entertained for a couple of hours, Born isn't any sort of masterpiece but I found it fun & somewhat likable for all it's faults & in spite (or maybe because of) it's strangeness.
Director Friedman does alright, the film looks a little cheap & there are some really sloppily edited & put together scenes (at the start in the graveyard there's a shot of the sky full of clouds as lightening strikes but in the next shot on the ground the sky is perfectly blue, the car crash looks poor too) but that adds to the light hearted tone, had Born taken itself seriously then these flaws would be much harder to forgive. There's some decent gore here, from decapitated head, headless torso's, ripped out hearts, a bit of cannibalism & blood drinking, a scene in which Mary Elizabeth's stomach is sliced open & someone has their throat bitten out. The film isn't shot with any great style or flair.
According to the IMDb Born had a budget of about $5,000,000 which I find impossible to believe, there's no way this cost that much & I don't care what anyone says. If it did cost that much then I really can't see where all the money went since the entire film virtually takes place in the same house. The cast plays it up & seem to be having fun, I quite liked Joan Severance in this although I have never seen her so blonde, horror film regular Kane Hodder has a bigger role than he normally does while Alison Brie puts in a spirited & fairly likable performance.
Born isn't the total disaster I was expecting, I usually despise these low budget shot on a camcorder type horror films but there was a something about this one. I don't think I could recommend it since it's an acquired taste but for what it is I quite liked it.
Produced & directed by Richard Friedman I am not entirely sure that Born was made as a comedy horror but if it wasn't then it sure does a good impression of being one & an entertainingly daft one at that. According to the IMDb there's a version of Born which runs 105 minutes, one which runs 107 minutes & the so-called 'original version' runs 118 minutes, I definitely saw the two hour cut & even though I wonder what the shorter version has cut out I have no real desire to find out. The script by Alex D'Lerma who also stars in the film as Father Nick the murdering Priest plays like various religious themed supernatural horror films, the likes of Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Omen (1976, 2006) & The Exorcist (1973) all readily spring to mind while watching Born & you can clearly see their influence on it. Even at almost two hours I quite liked Born, it just about kept my interest, the plot keeps moving & I didn't find it boring either. There are some truly bizarre & oddball moments in Born, a demon from hell seeking psychiatric help, said demon raping his sister, Mary Elizabeth's strict religious sister, her slutty friend who works on sex chat lines, Mary Elizabeth's nipples oozing green goo, a former assassin turned Priest, an albino graveyard caretaker, a few off the wall twists, cannibalism, heart removals, demonic possession, Satanic rituals, sex, castration & Joan Severance as Satan, what more do you want? The film is a bit of a mess but it's a funny & often amusing mess which kept me entertained for a couple of hours, Born isn't any sort of masterpiece but I found it fun & somewhat likable for all it's faults & in spite (or maybe because of) it's strangeness.
Director Friedman does alright, the film looks a little cheap & there are some really sloppily edited & put together scenes (at the start in the graveyard there's a shot of the sky full of clouds as lightening strikes but in the next shot on the ground the sky is perfectly blue, the car crash looks poor too) but that adds to the light hearted tone, had Born taken itself seriously then these flaws would be much harder to forgive. There's some decent gore here, from decapitated head, headless torso's, ripped out hearts, a bit of cannibalism & blood drinking, a scene in which Mary Elizabeth's stomach is sliced open & someone has their throat bitten out. The film isn't shot with any great style or flair.
According to the IMDb Born had a budget of about $5,000,000 which I find impossible to believe, there's no way this cost that much & I don't care what anyone says. If it did cost that much then I really can't see where all the money went since the entire film virtually takes place in the same house. The cast plays it up & seem to be having fun, I quite liked Joan Severance in this although I have never seen her so blonde, horror film regular Kane Hodder has a bigger role than he normally does while Alison Brie puts in a spirited & fairly likable performance.
Born isn't the total disaster I was expecting, I usually despise these low budget shot on a camcorder type horror films but there was a something about this one. I don't think I could recommend it since it's an acquired taste but for what it is I quite liked it.