Quite often the neglected stepchild of killer baby movies - 1990's Baby Blood (aka The Evil Within) remains today as one of the oddest, grotesque and most entertaining of the sub genre. Available in the US (heavily edited mind you) Dragon has released a most welcomed Region 0 PAL DVD of Baby Blood in a near spotless transfer (one of their best to date) with all of the good stuff still intact. Baby Blood has always been (and remains) a spectacular view and Dragon's recent DVD is certainly the way to go - fans couldn't have asked for much more.

Yanka (the voluptuous Emmanuelle Escourrou) is a pregnant circus performer whose overbearing and abusive husband is about to become the least of her concerns. Only hours after a new leopard is delivered to the circus, it's found mangled and bloodied in its cage. Moments later a slug like creature crawls inside Yanka (if you know what I mean) and takes over her unborn fetus. Yanka goes a bit mad and skips town, only to be tracked down by her husband some time later.

It seems as if Yanka is able to communicate with whatever it is that's growing inside of her and it demands blood to survive and gain strength before its "birth." Once Yanka's husband finds her, she brutally stabs him to death (on the recommendation of the creature inside of her) in a fit of rage that begins a murderous rampage across town. The creature continues to taunt and sometimes comfort Yanka (in a disturbing yet somewhat soothing voice) convincing her to continue to feed it with fresh blood until its eventual birth.

It's quite sad to think of how unknown Baby Blood is considering how much it has going for it. Add to this the fact that the US video release was heavily censored, until now the only way to view Baby Blood in its true form was through the bootleg circuit. The film itself is beautifully crafted containing elements of brutal gore, horror and touches of black comedy. Even through the English dub track (which really isn't that bad for a dub) it's easy to see the solid performances shining through, including the constant tug of war Yanka has with the creature inside of her which creates a fascinating love hate relationship.

Baby Blood is an extremely bloody and brutal film and most importantly gains an upper edge from its wholly inventive style. Guaranteed to be unlike any horror film you've seen up until now, Baby Blood is unapologetic in creating a creepy new universe of unimaginable horrors. While not without its problems the whole affair ends as an extremely satisfying experience that is sure to please on the gore, horror and black comedy levels alike. Blood drenches the walls in nearly every scene, creature effects are convincing and cool, and Escourrou is quite kind enough to shed all of her clothes in quite a few scenes, what more could we ask for?

Dragon has done a fairly tremendous job in bringing this obscure little French gem to DVD. Quality is near perfect with solid black levels and barely even a hint of print damage. Presented in all of its uncut glory (approx letterboxed at 1.66:1) colors are just slightly off balanced but a quick adjustment to your TV will fix this problem. Baby Blood is easily Dragon's best transfer to date and it couldn't have come at a better time, or for a better flick.

While the box states that audio is in 2.0 stereo all around, there is indeed a 5.1 track included. Unfortunately, it's for the Dutch track and there are no English subs, sigh. The 2.0 English track is fine though with fairly clear dialogue, music and effects. There is only a slight amount of audible background hiss at higher volumes, nothing too distracting. It is worth mentioning that there are a few scenes in French (never translated into English) and no subs, along with a few French title cards (showing the passage of time) once again, no subs. More of a slight annoyance than an inconvenience, these brief foreign moments are still fairly easy to follow.

Extras include a Dutch and French trailer along with filmographies for both director Alain Robak and actress Emmanuelle Escourrou. There is also a short film (approx 7 min) entitled Corridor from director Alain Robak in French with Dutch subs, no English (darn!). The final extra is a video interview (approx 16 minutes) from 1997 with director Robak available in either Dutch or English (yeah!). The interview is actually pretty interesting as Robak speaks fairly candidly about filmmaking in France and the effects (good and bad) that Baby Blood had on his career. Also worth mentioning is Dragon's new sleek digi-pak design used on their most recent releases. Included is a full color booklet with pics and liner notes, unfortunately not in English.

Overall, this is an extremely solid presentation of an often forgotten yet thoroughly entertaining French horror flick. Baby Blood the film and the Dragon DVD both come highly recommended.

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