Reborn

I caught this movie's premier on British TV and have to say that compared to the bulk of 21st Century horror drivel this one wasn't too bed. It stars 80's Scream Queen Barbara Crampton (she still looks good) as an actress who gave birth to a stillborn baby. Only that baby did not actually die and she became some sort of Carrie, only with power over electricity. Kayleigh Gilbert played the part of Tess well, but I suspect she was a few years older than the 16 year old that she was playing. There are a couple of decent jump scenes (one is a complete rip off of Carrie), the plot was engaging and fairly original, plus at under 80 minutes the film is well paced.

A baby declared stillborn is lying in the morgue but brought back to life by a freak accident. A morgue worker (Chaz Bono) saves her and secretly raises her as his own. 16 years later, the girl (Kayleigh Gilbert) is desperate to find her mother (Barbara Crampton), but has a deadly gift of being able to harness electricity. She goes on a murderous campaign to find and keep her mom.

Some of the acting here is pretty dreadful (especially from Michael Pare as the cop and some of the sub-characters), but in many respects it is an interesting old fashioned horror B movie could have been from the 1940s and 50s. Besides who can resist the great Barbara Crompton who always adds some class to the most mixed of horror films.

This is your typical mid day movie for bored housewives.

It is cliched and nothing we have not seen before using the Carrie model but it does have some good acting and the addition of Kayleigh Gibert does add some attraction for me as she is quite a stunner so an extra star for the eye candy but it is still a below average 4/10 Hatchets from me!

Odd and mild Carrie/Frankenstein-lite story about a stillborn child brought back to life by an electrical storm, who then goes in search of her actress mother. Tess can control electricity and has the power to use it to kill people.

Prolific actress Barbara Crampton plays Lena, who had the baby (Tess) at 19, and Tess has come looking for her 16 years later. Crampton is a good actress, but even she can't convince as a 35 year old. Equally, what has Tess been doing for the first 16 years of her life? It seems she has been living with the creepy morgue attendant who abducted her, but it is surprising her powers don't seem to have made an impact during those formative years.

The film is lifted by Kayleigh Gilbert who is very good as Tess. Wide-eyed and slightly eccentric, Gilbert's performance actually rises above the material. My score is 6 out of 10.

As horror movies go, this isn't terrible but it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to picture the final scene. Only reason I watched this was to tick off another Barbara Crampton movie. Avoid unless very bored.