Grace

Grace...2009...85 minutes...R...starring Jordan Ladd, Stephen Parker, Gabrielle Rose, and Samantha Ferris...written and directed by Paul Solet

Michael and Madeleine Matheson are expecting a baby. It's a bit of a stressful time, because Madeline has been pregnant twice before and neither time ended well. Madeline is also bumping heads with her mother-in-law, who of course knows better and is certainly against Madeline's idea of a midwife. (Apparently the midwife and Madeleine had something going back in the day, too, but that's neither here nor there.) The midwife, Patricia, earns her trust with the family by stopping an unnecessary inducement, but fate is not kind for the Mathesons as they get into a car wreck soon after. The baby's expected to be stillborn, but Madeline's baby comes to life. Thus, Grace is born. And Grace needs to feed.

"Grace" as a movie is certainly an uncomfortable business, especially if you're male, or a parent, or if the idea of undead babies sounds like a thinly veiled form of tacky humor. The movie is certainly not played for any laughs, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through this one. Fortunately, it's disturbing without being overly graphic...the last scene being the exception to this rule...though admittedly it's violent at places. Certainly it's an exploration through the medium of horror of how far someone will go for their child, no matter what the circumstances.

I'll also admit that as a guy, I was maybe a bit more squeamish at certain scenes than a female might be. The birthing scene was tragic, but also just plain "itchy" in places for me. The cast in the movie is largely female, and I kind of felt that the movie was aimed more for women than for men...though I think if you're a parent, you'll find it effective. Enjoyable is another matter altogether, but I'll admit it's been a while where I've been genuinely bothered by what I'm watching. I think that horror should disturb if it's well done, playing upon those fears we harbor in our hearts and the dark portions of our minds.

Or you may just find the whole concept tacky and tasteless. I'm alternating between the two...and so while I won't recommend the movie, I'm going to give it a good rating because it obviously hit somewhere effective for me. All this said...*full body shudder*

I give it 3 hovering flies out of 5.