A budding couple, both physicians, nearly run down an expecting, frantic teenager named Angelique(Caitlin Wachs). Bringing her to their clinic, she states they were meant to find her because God them to do away with her pregnancy. Meanwhile, a red van pulls up outside the same building. Her father, Duane, (Ron Perlman) has made many enemies inside this place, which happens to specialize in abortion. Currently bound by a restraining order, now that his own child’s inside he has no intention of honoring it.

Angelique claims she was raped by a demon and must stop the child from being born at all costs. Meanwhile Duane hears a voice from above urging him to protect the baby…and having been called, even if unsure of the caller, he enlists his three sons and several shotguns to gain entry to the clinic and rescue both children at all costs…

Largely unstereotypical, the potentially hot-issued script really doesn’t take sides but asks uncomfortable and important questions on both sides of the debate in the middle of the gunplay, slime, and beastly births. Despite this, it’s somehow completely drained of any tension or suspense for the most part; particularly once Duane and his sons open fire on the clinic. If saving his daughter and the baby is a priority, and time is of the essence, why stop for 20 minutes and eviscerate a doctor to make a point? A story that is primarily a monster movie crossed with a siege picture should be easy pickin’s for Carpenter.

Many of the side/bit players are cringe-inducing, though Perlman is incapable of giving a bad performance. He and the writing bring enough texture so that he never falls into a cartoonish caricature or a standard fanatic. It doesn’t reach the grotesque heights and psychotic excess of their previous year’s effort Cigarette Burns but there’s enough here if you’re a compleatist and plan on collecting all of Season Two.

PICTURE/SOUND/SUPPLEMENTS

Solid transfer, soft but intended as such; as always, count on Anchor Bay for superior picture quality and a lot of attention given to the horror genre.

Extras for MOH’s season two take a slightly different turn than last year’s welcome “Working with a Master” segments. Since many of those lauded directors were returning, we get a more traditional set of featurettes.

Final delivery- making of pro life

Brief but engaging, the articulate cast and crew elaborate on the story and their roles in it, and Carpenter’s approach to the material.

Baby steps-birthing the FX sequence

Shorter but gives some nice details on how the birth sequence and its monstrous result was achieved, achieved through a mixture of practical effects sweetened with digital. And slime. Lots of slime.

Audio includes a decent 5.1 as well as 2.0 mix, and commentary by the writing pair and Mr. Carpenter himself, thankfully sparing us another dry commentary where JC goes it alone. Though it’s amusing when JC gets restless and takes a smoke break halfway through(!). Thankfully Drew Mcweeney and Scott Swan know their cinema and storytelling and manage to contribute an engaging track once again.

A Carpenter Bio rounds out the extras.