Grace

Aroview: Provocative, artful gyno-horror about a desperate mother-to-be who continues to carry her still-born baby despite losing it in a car accident, eventually giving birth to an 'undead' toddler.

Taking his cues from the masterclass of Cronenberg and Polanski, newcomer Paul Solet displays the right creative instincts and distills an atmosphere of dread, even if he does let gruesome bloodletting favour itself over further potential in the strongly emotional material. The coda is pure cheese - seemingly influenced by producers keen to cash in on franchise potential - but this is otherwise a cut above horror hack-dom and marks its precocious director as one to watch.

NZ International Film Festival 2009

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