Pro-Life was a pretty odd episode. There was a LOT of good but sadly some of this was diminished by a few plot holes and scenes that were cut far too short. Perhaps it was due to the time restraint but there were plenty of times when it seemed like big events just ended abruptly and weren't concluded properly. The fate of many characters were left unseen and some seemingly important details regarding the bizarre pregnancy seemed to be missing. In the end, the film actually leaves more questions than answers and this is slightly frustrating to say the least.
Now I'm not somebody who has to have all the answers spoon fed to him when it comes to movies, nor do I feel like I need to see everything that happens to characters in most films; leaving some things to the imagination is always a welcomed aspect to a certain extent (such as in many great Miike films). But in Pro-Life I was SO involved with everything going on that I had an overwhelming urge to see it all play out. Sadly, many events and fates felts unfinished and there was just TOO much left to the imagination.
Some vague questions that were left lingering with me (as I'm trying to be as spoiler free as humanly possible here) included: What happened to so-and-so? Did this person actually make it out? What was the role of the baby in the big picture? Etc.
On the positive, those are the only real problems with Pro-Life. Everything else is phenomenal in the grand canon of Masters of Horror. Carpenter yet again delivers on some genuine thrills, vicious scenes of gore, and incredible visual effects. And it's all very, very, very entertaining. As for our villains here, Ron Perlman and his sons are fantastic as the blind, naive, and self-proclaimed righteous hands of God. They are relentless in their attack on the Hospital and show absolutely no wavering in their crusade (well with the exception of one of his sons).
The installment has a strong "take no prisoners" sort of feel to it in that you are never fully certain as to whether or not ANYBODY is going to survive the whole ordeal. This aspect of it is extremely engrossing and tense. Those that deserve whats coming to them, get what's coming to them (or so it can be assumed as this is where some of the frustrations mentioned above come in). And the innocents (for the most part) are left hanging in the balance of life and death all the way through.
I can only wonder/hope that there will be an extended version of this on DVD perhaps as the aforementioned loose ends deserved more attention. Still, with the budget involved and time constraints for a TV episode Pro-Life is a fantastic effort for Season 2. Just go into it with an open mind and try as hard as you can to not compare it with Cigarette Burns and I'm sure you'll find a fair deal of enjoyment.
My final rating for Pro-Life is a 7.5 but I have chosen to round it up to an 8 as I feel I'll likely enjoy Pro-Life even more on subsequent viewings. Bravo Carpenter. Bravo.
Now I'm not somebody who has to have all the answers spoon fed to him when it comes to movies, nor do I feel like I need to see everything that happens to characters in most films; leaving some things to the imagination is always a welcomed aspect to a certain extent (such as in many great Miike films). But in Pro-Life I was SO involved with everything going on that I had an overwhelming urge to see it all play out. Sadly, many events and fates felts unfinished and there was just TOO much left to the imagination.
Some vague questions that were left lingering with me (as I'm trying to be as spoiler free as humanly possible here) included: What happened to so-and-so? Did this person actually make it out? What was the role of the baby in the big picture? Etc.
On the positive, those are the only real problems with Pro-Life. Everything else is phenomenal in the grand canon of Masters of Horror. Carpenter yet again delivers on some genuine thrills, vicious scenes of gore, and incredible visual effects. And it's all very, very, very entertaining. As for our villains here, Ron Perlman and his sons are fantastic as the blind, naive, and self-proclaimed righteous hands of God. They are relentless in their attack on the Hospital and show absolutely no wavering in their crusade (well with the exception of one of his sons).
The installment has a strong "take no prisoners" sort of feel to it in that you are never fully certain as to whether or not ANYBODY is going to survive the whole ordeal. This aspect of it is extremely engrossing and tense. Those that deserve whats coming to them, get what's coming to them (or so it can be assumed as this is where some of the frustrations mentioned above come in). And the innocents (for the most part) are left hanging in the balance of life and death all the way through.
I can only wonder/hope that there will be an extended version of this on DVD perhaps as the aforementioned loose ends deserved more attention. Still, with the budget involved and time constraints for a TV episode Pro-Life is a fantastic effort for Season 2. Just go into it with an open mind and try as hard as you can to not compare it with Cigarette Burns and I'm sure you'll find a fair deal of enjoyment.
My final rating for Pro-Life is a 7.5 but I have chosen to round it up to an 8 as I feel I'll likely enjoy Pro-Life even more on subsequent viewings. Bravo Carpenter. Bravo.