Baby Blood (1994)

"Baby Blood" follows a downtrodden circus performer, Yanka, who finds herself carrying a mysterious parasite that has entered her uterus against her will. Now, she's eating for two, but not the usual meals— the parasite craves human blood, and will stop at nothing to make sure it gets it.Given the tendency of French cinema to err on the side of the extreme (especially when it comes to genre films), it's no surprise that "Baby Blood" is as unabashedly gruesome as it is. For all of its other attributes, the film is, at its core, a gross-out body horror splatter flick that delivers mind-numbingly gruesome violence that manages to be legitimately discomforting at times. The film also plays itself as something of a first-person slasher film as well, with the caveat being that the "killer" is operating by proxy.But there's more to it than that; there is also a well-shaped psychological dimension to the film that is captured effectively through macabre voice overs in which the parasite inhabiting the protagonist's womb speaks within her mind, commanding her moves and actions and chastising her when she doesn't do what it wants. The interplay between the mind, the body, and the invader is well-realized and offers opportunity for scenes that are unnerving and scenes that are darkly funny. Emmanuelle Escourrou gives an instinctive and engrossing performance here that is impressive given she is reacting mainly to herself. Overall "Baby Blood" is a generally strong horror flick that excels as both an exercise in psychological torment as well as a no-holds-barred body horror splatter flick. Shades of dark humor and a playful edge give the film an extra bit of zest, but it doesn't even really need it, as there is enough clever writing and buckets of blood to keep the most hardened horror fans engaged on some level. 8/10.

BABY BLOOD (1990) ** Uneven horror film from French filmmaker Alain Robak (who co-scripted with Sege Cukier) about a young woman (the ethereal Emmanuelle Escourrou) becomes impregnated by a primordial monster whose incubation leads to a telekinetic communique between host and parasite ….and buckets of bloodshed to slake its thirst to thrive and grow from within. While body horror enthusiasts may rejoice in the splatter-ific f/x one can only wonder what a real artist like David Cronenberg could've done in this horribly written (the dialogue is laughably awful) slog yet the buxom (frequently nude; thank you!) gap-toothed Escourrou acts up a storm not unlike Isabelle Adjani in POSSESSION which this genre pic is a kissing cousin to but not as gonzo-for-broke nuts as it could've been.

I used to live in Southwest Florida where Sarasota used to (maybe still does)have a French Film Festival. Probably in 1990 or 1991 Baby Blood was one of the featured movies and I saw it on the big screen which was quite an experience. It is a good movie and definitely with a French style. My recollection is also that the director was there at the festival and screening and took questions afterwards. This was before the explosion of film festivals all over the world and so was pretty unique. They had a nice mix of films and some great viewing venues. This one sticks out in my mind because it was surprisingly good and I wasn't expecting much based on the title and description. Sometimes it's a lot different seeing one on the big screen than on TV. Those were some fun times. I haven't seen this on DVD.

Well, The Evil Within (Baby Blood) is definitely a different sort of movie. It isn't just the loads of blood that make this movie a fun choice, it has good atmosphere and a great horror storyline that keep things interesting throughout.The story circles around a young woman named Yonka. Yonka is a very unfortunate woman as she is impregnated by an alien being. Not from outer space, I might add. Anyway, poor Yonka, the baby inside of her can communicate with her telepathically and forces her to kill people and suck there blood to feed the creature inside. The whole story takes place over nine months and has one misadventure after the next, until the very bloody end.I first saw this movie under the title of The Evil Within many years ago. It is better now then I remember it being when I first viewed it. The movie is incredibly bloody. Not so much during the first hour of the movie, but the last thirty minutes is something else. Of course, I have seen far more bloody, but, if you are not used to this type of thing, it can be quite disturbing.The storyline in itself is quite original and simple at the same time. What makes it so cool to watch is the relationship Yonka is forced to have with this evil being inside of her. It can be quite horrific and humorous all at the same time.If you like horror I don't see how you couldn't like this film. If you like Frank Henenlotter's work, movies like Brain Damage or Basket Case, I think this is right up your alley. 9/10