I was expecting absolutely nothing from BABY BLOOD, so I have to admit I was VERY pleasantly surprised upon my initial viewing. I haven't seen too much in the way of horror films come from France, but this film does show that they have some potential, too...
This one starts out with a big-jugged, gap-toothed circus worker who is impregnated when a tiger (or leopard, jaguar...whatever...) explodes and some sort of evil evolutionary parasite is released, which decides to crawl into bed with, and up into her. From there our "anti-heroine" runs away from the circus and spends her days in squalor trying to satisfy the evil "fetus's" thirst for blood. The "thing" talks to her and basically guides her on her day to day routine, sometimes going so far as to crack jokes about the losers that he's trying to get his host to murder. Sometimes the "baby" is compassionate, other times mean and spiteful. Basically it's a lose-lose situation for both "mother" and "child"...as mom doesn't want some evil spawn inside of her, and "baby" wants to be reborn to continue it's evolutionary process but has to wait until it's strong enough to be "born"...
BABY BLOOD works on a lot of different levels. The gore comes quick and thick but never quite gets too campy. There are a few "dark-comedy" elements, but those that classify this as more comedy than horror must not have been watching the same film that I saw. I found BABY BLOOD to be pretty bleak and may even prove to be a little too much for the "average" horror film-goer. The atmosphere of the film really reminded me of a Henenlotter film, a la BASKET CASE or maybe more closely related, BRAIN DAMAGE - without the funny parts. The performances are all strong, especially from the lead actress, who although may be a little hard on the eyes (the few reviewers who thought she was hot must also have not seen the same film I did...) was superb as the "mother" torn between her repulsion of what is growing inside of her, and her natural motherly instincts. The basic concept of a parasitic or evil fetus may not be an especially original one, but BABY BLOOD does more with the concept than any film I've seen since ROSEMARY'S BABY. The only real gripe I had with the film was that it would sometimes switch from English to French dialog mid-scene for no reason - but this only happened a few times and didn't ruin the overall feel of the film. I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up if you dig more "extreme" horror fare. 8.5/10
This one starts out with a big-jugged, gap-toothed circus worker who is impregnated when a tiger (or leopard, jaguar...whatever...) explodes and some sort of evil evolutionary parasite is released, which decides to crawl into bed with, and up into her. From there our "anti-heroine" runs away from the circus and spends her days in squalor trying to satisfy the evil "fetus's" thirst for blood. The "thing" talks to her and basically guides her on her day to day routine, sometimes going so far as to crack jokes about the losers that he's trying to get his host to murder. Sometimes the "baby" is compassionate, other times mean and spiteful. Basically it's a lose-lose situation for both "mother" and "child"...as mom doesn't want some evil spawn inside of her, and "baby" wants to be reborn to continue it's evolutionary process but has to wait until it's strong enough to be "born"...
BABY BLOOD works on a lot of different levels. The gore comes quick and thick but never quite gets too campy. There are a few "dark-comedy" elements, but those that classify this as more comedy than horror must not have been watching the same film that I saw. I found BABY BLOOD to be pretty bleak and may even prove to be a little too much for the "average" horror film-goer. The atmosphere of the film really reminded me of a Henenlotter film, a la BASKET CASE or maybe more closely related, BRAIN DAMAGE - without the funny parts. The performances are all strong, especially from the lead actress, who although may be a little hard on the eyes (the few reviewers who thought she was hot must also have not seen the same film I did...) was superb as the "mother" torn between her repulsion of what is growing inside of her, and her natural motherly instincts. The basic concept of a parasitic or evil fetus may not be an especially original one, but BABY BLOOD does more with the concept than any film I've seen since ROSEMARY'S BABY. The only real gripe I had with the film was that it would sometimes switch from English to French dialog mid-scene for no reason - but this only happened a few times and didn't ruin the overall feel of the film. I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up if you dig more "extreme" horror fare. 8.5/10