User reviews

What do you get if you cross Rosemary's Baby with The X Files? 1998's Progeny, or something like it anyway. Surprisingly thoughtful, restrained and adept for a B movie, it's got a tightly wound little story about a human woman (Jillian McWhirter) who is impregnated by extraterrestrials that are tinkering around with our biology for who knows why. Her husband (Arnold 'Imhotep' Vosloo) is at a loss and doesn't know where to turn as her condition gets progressively more… icky. Help comes in the form of two kindly doctors (Lindsay Crouse and Wilford 'Diabeetus' Brimley) and a UFO-ologist played by an unusually laid back Brad Dourif, but will their collective effort be enough to save her life, remove whatever being is in her womb and escape the attention of the aliens for good? Browsing the shelves this looks like a full on schlock-fest based on the cast and general vibe, but it's something a bit more tasteful that takes itself just seriously enough to separate it from the mass of junk in this arena. Don't get me wrong, there's some slick scares and a few gooey wtf moments, but they're used with a modicum of discretion and as such feel earned, always taking a backseat to the actors who give the human drama weight. Great little forgotten sci-if/horror.

As a big fan of Brian Yuzna and the majority of the movies he's been involved in, I guessed I'd enjoy Progeny. I didn't, although in ways it has it's moments. However, if you're expecting something of the calibre of Society or Beyond ReAnimator, you could be in for a shock. In a way this is similar to Society, being a tale of a seemingly ordinary world with a horrific supernatural underbelly...but that's where it ends.

I'm not covering for Yuzna when I say that the fault doesn't really lie with him, as bad direction is bad direction, but the direction is sound. What trips the movie up is both script and acting. Stuart Gordon (ReAnimator, Dagon) has written an intelligent script, but one that doesn't really work with Yuzna's style of direction, leaving him paused on actors delivering lengthy dialogue when really he wants to throw that camera around and get down with his bad self. This matter makes the movie awkward enough as it is, but there's worse.

If the movie had been made with great actors, the movie would have probably held it's own. Unfortunately this is very far from the case. The acting is wooden, shockingly so even for a low-budget B feature. The inexplicably successful and renowned Arnold Vosloo wrecks every damn line with near pinpoint precision, handing in one of the worst performances I've seen in a long while. The man manages to turn every line of well considered dialogue into the kind of ham-line you'll be throwing drunkenly at mates next time you're in the pub. 'Hey Bob! GOOD GOD, AM I GOING MAD! WHAT'S...COME OVER ME! NOOOO!' In fact I may try that one myself next weekend. The last minute addition of genre veteran (and personal favourite) Brad Dourif, instead of enriching the film like it should, almost seems to hand Dourif the movie in a last ditch effort to stop Vosloo from hamming, but quite frankly Dourif looks deeply uncomfortable (possibly waiting for the next assault of bad acting) next to Vosloo, and even an eccentric turn from him fails to resuscitate the film.

If the acting was better, this movie would have been okay. Hell, it might have been pretty enjoyable, but the lack of character makes the movie a soulless affair, and makes the horror element seem tacked on and tasteless instead of an organic part of the film. I found the alien torture/rape scenes a little difficult to stomach already, but the fact that the characters were so lacking made them seem gratuitous as well as unpleasant, leaving a nasty taste in the mouth.

So, if you really like Sci-fi and don't have a problem with bad acting, pedestrian pacing and a really garish, nasty rape scene, Progeny will probably be your cup of tea. But since I do, I'm probably never going to watch it again. Once was enough. On the plus side, this is the only Sci-Fi movie Yuzna ever bothered to make, so he obviously wasn't really that pleased with it himself.

i caught this movie on showtime one weekend afternoon, expecting a good ole b-grade gore-fest... boy, was i surprised... :OP this turned out to be one of the better horror movies i've seen in a long time, and i've seen my fair share... while there were a couple of scenes which were extremely gory, they were the exception, rather than the norm... i rather liked the way in which the entire film kept you really wondering if the good doctor was really crazy, as everyone else thought... one thing i didn't really like about the film was the very last scene, which i personally felt detracted from the film... i thought it would have been more effective if it had left the ending more open to interpretation, which it would have been had they not included the very last 30 seconds... but that was about my only substantial complaint about this film, which provided a good sense of suspense and dread, as well as keeping you guessing as to the whole "crazy vs sane" aspect of the story... the alien abduction sequences, in particular the last one involving the wife, were quite reminiscent of japanese hentai, specifically tentacles... just thought i'd mention that... quite disturbing...

overall, i'd give this an 8 out of 10, but be aware that it does not cater to a large audience...

... Brian? what the hell were you *on* when you signed to do this?

I saw this recently at a festival, and it was greeted by howling laughter throughout. By the time the credits rolled, tears were streaming down the faces of many of the audience.

The plot is a clunky melding of 'E.R.' and 'The X-Files'; as cynically aimed at the TV audience as is possible to get without being sued. The sequences involving the abductions are hilarious- both Yuzna's staging of the 'floating from the bed' and 'Screaming Mad George's pathetic plastic aliens drew gales of disbelieving, derisive laughter.

Limp, camp and stupid. My only hope is that it was an aberration- As awful as 'Return of the Living Dead 3' was good.

Steev

This was not a good film. Poorly scripted and acted - the concept was not new, the effects poor and not a showcase for Arnold Vosloo who really is a half decent actor. I watched this under some protest and only remembered having seen it before towards the very end - it's that forgettable. The acting seemed to consist of a number of glares & looks devoid of any sincerity. I kept expecting this to actually get going and before long I was just hoping it would finish. As for the medical bits - well I wasn't expecting a true version of ER events but this was just comical - I am a Dr so know what I am taking about - and the operative bits were just plain silly.

Do not waste your valuable time - unless you have absolutely nothing else to do - go out, ring up a long lost friend, watch paint dry, sort out your sock draw, do some household task. AVOID at your peril.

It would be so easy to dismiss an alien abduction movie before even seeing it - as I did - but this is well worth a look. If you think about it, its not an easy subject matter to handle but this film manages to suspend disbelief which in itself is a feat for such a way out subject. Casting the main character as a doctor was a sensible move which lends credence to his willingness to believe in the possibility of alien abduction. Vosloo plays it very sensitively involving us in his pain and confusion at the weird events that befall himself and his wife. Special Effects are used sparingly but to shocking effect and at times the movie is totally gripping but sadly there are a couple of points where the plot wanders and leaves some confusion. Also, after building to a tense climax the ending is something of a let down. The supporting characters were unnecessarily weak (the alien hunter) or menacing (the psychiatrist) which also served to detract.

But all in all it raised some interesting issues amongst which was a telling line "How do think animals feel when we experiment on them".

The concept of "lost time" was also thought provoking.

I put in the DVD expecting camp perversion from the creators of Society and Re-Animator, and was quite surprised to become involved in an authentically suspenseful tale. Acting was top-notch (nice to see Vosloo in a protagonist role after a long string of villains), the storyline involving, and the few twists fairly surprising. I figured I would fast forward through much of it to get to the abduction scenes, but instead watched it through, only being let down at the very end.

Maybe I'm being too lenient, but as I stated before, I wasn't expecting much more than alien sex. Of course, if you ARE looking for some hot alien sex, you will be let down. It was mostly quick-cut exam table nonsense with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpse of an interesting 'impregnator' alien.

Rented the video with a lot of expectations, but it was a disappointment. The story didn't make sense, the plot was very weak and the special effects.. well, I think even I can do better with my home computer. Sorry. Missed a change here.

This movie will undoubtably not go over well with some, because most of the horror is mental. But it does have a little something for almost everyone, including a couple of really cool abduction scenes with aliens. The film makes extensive use of alien abduction mythology, while also showing a bit more intelligence about some facets of abduction myths than you would expect out of a movie. Jillian McWhirter is excellent in what had to have been a grueling performance.

Progeny is about a husband and wife who experience time loss while making love. Completely unaware of what this bizarre experience means they try to go on with their lives. The hubby begins questioning the bizarre event and gets help through a very annoying psychiatrist. He comes to believe that aliens are responsible for this lapse in time and that the unborn baby he once thought was his and his wife's actually belongs to the aliens.

If ya ask me, this is a great scifi/horror story. Taking a highly questionable real-life scenario involving alien abduction and hybrid breeding is definite thumbs up from this guy. I love all things related to aliens and this story definitely delivered some good ideas. So if you also share an interest in things extraterrestrial, you should be pretty happy with Progeny. At least story-wise anyways.

Unfortunately the movie overall is pretty average. With average acting by all actors. Yep, even by the consistently awesome Mr. Dourif, who still does deliver the best performance. Though the black head doctor, delivers his lines really well. There are a few points in the flick where some of the delivery is cringe or laugh worthy, which is fine in my book. I like them cheesy and this had a little bit of some nice stinky cheese, and I mean that in a good way.

Anyways, with a less than stellar script you can't really blame all the actors. I especially didn't care for the Mother Hysteria the film went for. She wanted a baby so badly that she'd neglect and dismiss everything her loving husband (who's a doctor!!) said to her. It almost reached a point where you actually didn't care what happened to her.

The Progeny is another flick by Brian Yuzna from the icky-sticky film, Society. Again he delivers some slimy effects, and again he delivers a pretty unique tale of horror. If you're into scifi/horror or are a fan of Dourif and or Yuzna films, there's no real reason not to check out this flick if you get the chance. A generous 7 outta 10.

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

I wanted to see this movie since a long time ago, and i finally got it. Boy am i disappointed or what? The whole story was terrible! Bad screenplay, bad fx, i can go on and on. It's about an ER doctor (Arnold "The mummy" Vosloo) whose wife is pregnant, but the baby is not normal. Well it sounds like that lousy movie about the astronaut with Charlize Theron, i can't remember the name, except that this one was made with a very low budget. Anyway, I enjoy low budget movies sometimes, like "The return of the living death" and stuff, but this one is not among my favorites at all!

A young doctor and his wife are suddenly expecting a child. Both are disturbed about a two hour memory lapse on the night of conception. Interesting twist on an hackneyed story. Very good F/X and interesting editing. Jillian McWhirter is outstanding in a cast that features Arnold Vosloo, Wilford Brimley and Brad Dourif. Brimley brings normalcy to the outlandish. Kudos to director Brian Yuzna.

I had high expectations for this movie, but unfortunately it didn't live up to it.

The storyline was OK, not "Oh my god, I've never seen anything like this before"-OK, but just plain OK, so if you are into these type of movies, you might like it, even though there are much better movies available in this genre.

The poor acting really annoyed me and is solely responsible for my 5 out of 10 score. Unlike other movies I've seen starring Arnold Vosloo, he didn't impress me at all in Progeny: it seemed like instead of distributing the Valium to his patients, he probably ate it as candy himself...

And casting Wilford Brimley as a doctor: who's idea was that??? With all due respect for the man and his acting qualities, playing a doctor just doesn't match his physique!

Jillian McWhirter on the other hand did a great job!

So was I glad that I saw this movie? Yes, but only because it adds another movie to my watch-list and because now I know for sure that I won't watch it a second time, except maybe to see Jillian McWirthers beautiful body again ;)

Craig and Sherry are tying to have a baby. One night while having intercourse, there's a bright light. Two hours goes by in what felt like two minutes, and neither of them recall afterwards what actually happened.

Soon thereafter, Sherry is pregnant. Only, Craig's sperm count is too low and the chances of him making Sherry pregnant is one in a million. Both Craig and Sherry undergo hypnosis in order to remember, and realize Sherry has been impregnated by aliens. This sets in motion a terrible ordeal as Craig wants to abort the child (or offspring), while Sherry wants to keep it.

Some of Brian Yuzna's movies are downright awful, while some are absolutely amazing. Thankfully 'Progeny' is also one of the better ones. Experiencing the events with Craig and Sherry as they unfold, I thought this is actually a darn good movie. The practical effects are really good - especially during the final act.

As with most of Yuzna's movies, 'Progeny' gets more intense and bizarre as the film develops, and its quite wonderful. Arnold Vosloo delivered a good performance as Craig - a distraught husband torn between the love for Sherry, and what he believes to be the right thing to do. Interesting ending...

First, let me review the movie. This movie creeps me out, and I don't even believe in aliens! However, the movie has its flaws.

There are three acts to this movie. Act One is perfect. It sets up the movie, and really builds up the creep factor. I must say the score is great! Everything is set up and it's set up perfectly.

Act Two begins when Jillian, playing Sherry Burton, goes to the shrink. They hypnotize her, and she recalls the abduction. Act Two ruins the film when the aliens show up. "Screaming Mad George" did the effects for the aliens. I must say they did a good job, except with their depiction of the "Gray" aliens. No offense, but the Grays looked like inflatable door prizes.

On a side note, I liked how they treated hypnosis in Acts One and Two. If you paid attention, you would notice that the husband and wife had two different memories. In the husband's version of events, the blue light zaps them and his wife says, "Somebody's here," or something like it. It makes sense. The husband is concerned for his wife. "Someone" may hurt her. That's his issue. However in her version of events, she says, "Help me!" She does not say "Somebody's here." This also makes sense. The aliens are after her. Wanting her husband to help and save her is her issue. Now back to the film.

Act Three turns the film into a gore fest. It begins with a "strange" ultrasound procedure. It's a typical gore fest, but it does have a surprise ending. I won't ruin it because it's actually an interesting development.

The DVD and commentaries takes itself too seriously, but if you think Wilford Brimley saying "Horsesh**" is funny, you might want to check it out in the cast interviews section. Now on to my praise of Jillian McWhirter.

I could only hope Jillian will read this. I had never seen her before, but wow, what a performance! Let me tell the rest of you this. First of all, this is supposed to be a serious film. The details I will now describe may sound campy and fun, like "Humanoids From The Deep" (1980), but it really isn't. Got that? Okay.

Jillian is hot, naturally good-looking. She is naked for a lot of the film, a good thing. Unfortunately, she is usually being assaulted, terrorized, and raped, a very bad thing. However, she must act in a lot of this film naked. She gets points for overcoming that. She has to act happy, sad, horny, afraid, and physically hurt all in the span of a few moments. The turnaround of emotion is astounding! She has to cheer for joy when she learns she's pregnant. She has to scream in terror when the aliens take out her guts. She has to act very angry when her husband suggests that the baby isn't his. She has to act like she's in denial, saying nothing is wrong with her baby, when her husband says otherwise. A denial, I should note, that is really forced upon her by the aliens controlling her. I am talking Oscar-caliber performance here!

Then there is the rape scene. It's disturbing, but since it's just some rubber alien, it's not too bad. In this scene, the alien is not a "Gray" alien, so I will describe it. The alien has tentacles, and it's kind of like a table. Jillian is on the table-like part, restrained by the tentacles. By her head is the alien's head. The alien's head is long, and it flips down so that its head is now above Jillian's legs. Then, the alien's hey-nanu-nanu comes out of his forehead. It's forehead! Sounds pretty campy, right? Well, Jillian plays it straight, and she pulls it off! She has to act like an alien with its hey-nanu-nanu coming from its forehead is raping her, and she pulls it off! It's a very intense scene, but that's not what makes it. You see, this scene is done in a flashback. What makes the scene is Jillian's performance recalling these events. She is just lying in a hospital bed under hypnosis recalling the alien abduction, but her acting here is more intense than the actual rape scene! How many actors can pull off a performance in a scene that describes a rape that is more intense than the scene with the rape? Not many! However, Jillian does it.

I could go on and on. Jillian, if you ever read this, I want you to know that I, (name withheld) alias of MegamanX-1, believe you are the best actress ever. You are the best actress ever! I could only hope you read this and take it with you always.

As for everyone else, "Progeny" (1999) is an Okay to Good film. I would recommend it.

Rosemary's Baby meets Alien, Brian Yuzna style! Actually, this is a surprisingly restrained effort from the man behind such gory classics as Bride of Re-Animator and The Dentist, though we do still get some nasty styled gore. The film is rather well put together and the acting is not bad; the only real criticism I have of the film is that it's not very ambitious. The whole film revolves around the central plot point and despite being at least interesting throughout, it doesn't really go anywhere once it reaches its conclusion, which is a bit of a shame. The plot focuses on husband and wife Craig and Sherry Burton. They've been trying for a baby but not had much luck; although their luck changes one day when Sherry discovers that she has finally become pregnant. However, this happens shortly after a strange night where the couple, during sex, both had a blackout. As time moves on Craig increasingly begins to suspect that there's something wrong with the baby and begins to question what happened during the blackout.

The film takes obvious influence from films such as Rosemary's Baby, although the plot is much shallower. There's plenty of ways that Brian Yuzna could have taken the story but it's never really developed beyond the immediate ideas. The immediate ideas are good however and the film features plenty of decent set pieces - most of which are reminiscent of what actual expecting couples would have to go through (e.g. an ultrasound scan). The central cast is good with Arnold Vosloo and Jillian McWhirter convincing as the central couple and receiving good support from Brad Dourif as a doctor. The film is not particularly gory but we do get some inventive alien effects courtesy of Screaming Mad George. The aliens themselves are not seen all that often but we do at least get a general idea. The film might have been better had it been a bit more expansive and not focused solely on the pregnancy; but even so the ending is decent enough (if a little muddled) and while this film is not great; it is at least worth a look for horror fans.

It's a pity that story creator Stuart Gordon didn't write the screenplay for The Progeny, because it couldn't possibly have been more unimaginative and predictable than Aubrey Solomon's concoction. As with most Brian Yuzna films, the production values are high and there's a good cast led by Arnold 'The Mummy' Vosloo (I'm about ready for a new 'Ah-nuld' in action flicks, aren't you?) and always reliable Brad Dourif. If you can overlook the cliched script you'll enjoy the Progeny.