The Unborn II tells the tale of a single Mother named Catherine Moore (Michele Greene) who move into a sunny Californian suburb with her 6 month old baby son Joey. Catherine seems like a normal, nice young lady who loves her son, but that impression doesn't last too long as one of her neighbours Sally Anne (Brittney Powell) babysits & notices the door to Joey's room is locked. Welfare workers (Michael McDonald & Sheila Travis) become involved & Catherine's life suddenly becomes very complicated, add that to the fact that a woman named Linda Holt (Robin Curtis) is on a mission to kill all the evil babies that came about as a result of Dr. Richard Meyerling's genetic experiments. Joey himself is controlling his Mother with psychic powers & is more than willing to spill blood in his attempts to survive...
Directed by Rick Jacobson The Unborn II is the sequel to The Unborn (1991) which itself was a neat & entertaining horror film, oh & The Unborn II is most definitely a horror film & NOT a sci-fi as the IMDb would have you believe. The script by Daniella Purcell & Mark Evan Schwartz takes a different approach to the original & when you think about it it shouldn't be called The Unborn as, well the baby has been born hasn't it & therefore it's most definitely not unborn, is it? Anyway, while The Unborn II isn't as good as the original it makes for fair entertainment, it doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, moves along at a fair pace & is decent enough fun. I watched this & the original both on the same night & you can tell that this sequel has been dumbed down to be more commercial & cater to a certain audience. Gone are the cautionary themes on genetics & the building up of psychological horror & instead we are given dead teenagers, a central evil character to root for that reeks of franchise material plus a more linear & predictable story overall. It's a decent enough way to pass 80 odd minutes but I can't help but feel someone was looking to create a teen slasher type film with which to mould a series a bit like Chucky & the Child's Play (1988 - 2005) films.
Director Jacobson takes charge of this one, he keeps things moving along & there are a few nice scenes here & there but it's obvious he was working on a low budget. I have to mention Joey, when we finally get to see him he looks like the ugliest doll you've ever seen, he looks totally fake & rubbery thanks to yet more poor effects work from Gabriel Bartalos (remember his awful monsters for Basket Case 2 (1990)?) which actually gives it a really freaky & unsettling appearance, once you've stopped laughing at it that is. Not much in the way of blood or gore I'm afraid, a couple of bites, some gunshot wounds & some spraying blood is about as graphic as it gets.
Technically the film is OK & apart from the blatantly fake baby effects it's generally well made. The acting was alright but the two comedy relief neighbours irritated me but thankfully they disappeared from the film completely after their daughter was murdered.
The Unborn II isn't as good as the original as it's a different kind of film, it doesn't really refer to or carry on from the original that much either. Having said that I found it reasonably entertaining & a certain amount of fun can be had with it if your in the right mood. Just about worth a watch I'd say but only if you've already seen the original. Roger Corman acted as executive producer, is there nothing this man won't put his name to?!
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