Progeny (film)
{{Short description|1998 American science fiction film}}
{{Other uses|Progeny (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{one source|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Progeny
| image = Progeny (film).jpg
| caption =
| director = Brian Yuzna
| writer = Aubrey Solomon
Stuart Gordon
| starring = Arnold Vosloo
Jillian McWhirter
Brad Dourif
Susanne Wright
| producer = Jack F. Murphy
Henry Seggerman
| distributor = Progeny Films Inc.
| released = {{Film date|1999|03|30}}'{{Cite web|title=Progeny (1998)|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/522095/progeny#notes|access-date=2024-10-17|website=Turner Classic Movies|language=en}}
| country = United States
| runtime = 98 minutes
| language = English
| budget = $6,000,000{{cite news|url= https://variety.com/1997/film/news/yuzna-helming-progeny-111660786/ |title= Yuzna helming ‘Progeny’ |publisher=Variety|access-date=October 17, 2024}}
}}
Progeny is a 1998 American science fiction film.{{cite book
| author=The Staff and Friends of Scarecrow Video
| year=2004 | title=The Scarecrow Movie Guide
| pages=630–723 | publisher=Sasquatch Books
| location=Seattle | isbn=1-57061-415-6 }} It was directed by Brian Yuzna and written by Aubrey Solomon and Stuart Gordon. The film stars Arnold Vosloo as Dr. Craig Burton, Jillian McWhirter as Sherry Burton, Brad Dourif as Dr. Bert Clavell and Lindsay Crouse as Dr. Susan Lamarche.
Plot
Sherry Craig, a professional woman, happily discovers she is pregnant. While this is happy news for her and her husband Craig who is a doctor, both begin having strange memories from the night of conception. Uneasiness then becomes terror when both are convinced that she is carrying something alien inside her body. Sherry's therapist Dr. Susan Lamarche believes that Sherry has a psychological problem, for which Craig is to blame.
The couple contact a UFO/Paranormal college professor, who takes Sherry back to the night she conceived through hypnosis. They discover that she was abducted by aliens and artificially impregnated. The viewer is shown this sequence several times, with each time showing that Sherry blocked or distorted certain parts of the event in an attempt to accept and understand what was being done to her.
Cast
- Arnold Vosloo as Dr. Craig Burton
- Jillian McWhirter as Sherry Burton
- Brad Dourif as Dr. Bert Clavell
- Lindsay Crouse as Dr. Susan Lamarche
- Wilford Brimley as Dr. David Wetherly
- Willard E. Pugh as Eric Davidson
- David Wells as Dr. Duke Kelly
- Jan Hoag as Nurse Ida
- Don Calfa as Jimmy Stevens
- Timilee Romolini as Devon Thompson
- Nora Paradiso as Karen Boglia
- Patty Toy as Nurse Jane
- Susan Ripaldi as Nurse Della
- Barry Morris as Immigration Officer
- Logan Yuzna as Boy Patient
- Pancho Demmings as Officer McGuire
- Lisa Crosato as Bev
Production
Progeny was officially announced in June 1997 at Fantafestival in Rome, Italy with director-producer Brian Yuzna describing the film as "an alien version of Rosemary's Baby".{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/markets-festivals/tromeo-triumphs-in-rome-1116679154/|title= ‘Tromeo’ triumphs in Rome |publisher=Variety|access-date=October 17, 2024}}
The scene in which Sherry is probed by a little tube coming out of the wall and penetrating her vagina was a Jillian McWhirter's idea.{{cite web |title=Interview with Brian Yuzna and Jillian McWhirter |work=offscreen.com |url=https://offscreen.com/view/yuzna3 |access-date=2022-01-28 }} Production on the film took place in Los Angeles, California throughout October of 1997 and completed at the end of the month.
Release
Progeny was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 1998 before it was given a straight-to-video release on March 30, 1999.
Reception
In her review for Variety, Deborah Young wrote "unfolds as predictably as a TV movie with a giant f/x budget. At the same time, Yuzna's taste for disturbing psychological implications gives pic an intriguing edge. "{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/progeny-1200454028/|title= Progeny|publisher=Variety|access-date=October 17, 2024}}
Nominations
Brian Yuzna nominated at the 1998 International Fantasy Film Award, Porto, Portugal.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0167350}}
{{Brian Yuzna}}
Category:1990s English-language films
Category:1990s science fiction horror films
Category:Films about alien abduction
Category:American pregnancy films
Category:American science fiction horror films
Category:American splatter films