Progeny (1998)

Well, that's the paradox in this movie. It features some of the best acting I have ever seen in a B-movie (even better than most "A-list" actors) and yet the movie is mediocre at best. Why? Everything besides the acting in this movie screams "mediocre". Brian Yuzna's direction feels tired, as if he had been forced to make it; it's too far from his better works like "Return of the Living Dead III" or "From Beyond". The budget was OK, but he has done much better movies with less.

The main problem was the script. As a mixture between X-Files and a generic TV show, the plot tells the story of a woman named Sherry (Jillian McWhirter) who was kidnapped by aliens while making love to his husband Craig (Arnold Vosloo), a young doctor. When Sherry begins to act strangely her husband suspects that both baby and wife are aliens. Enter Brad Douriff as Dr. Clavell, an UFO expert who is the only one who believes Craig and tries to help him to kill the baby, while everyone else thinks Craig is mad.

An interesting plot nevertheless, but it was so poorly developed that even when the actors did an awesome job, it feels shallow and pointless. Andrew Vosloo, who has appeared in The Mummy, shines in his role and brings back good memories of Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. Brad Douriff does his usual good job and Jillian McWhirter has very good moments.

Yuzna's Direction and the weak script are what makes this movie boring and tiresome. The SFX did not help too much, some are quite good, others are pretty lame.

In the end, the movie is good to spent some time with, but a disappointment to a Yuzna fan. Worthy for the good performances of Vosloo and Douriff.

A solid 5/10