Rating: - Makers had no thought of making the film this could've been?
WARNING: SPOILERS, although this movie is its own worst spoiler.
The makers of this film had a good thing going, if only they'd suspected it and dared be a bit ambiguous as to whether their motives were politically correct or not. But guess they were committed all along to making a different film than the good one this could've been. Kevin Bacon plays Martin Thiel, a disturbed young man who was traumatized by learning that his mother wanted to abort him. Considering that, even the staunchest pro-choice advocates might ought to cut him some slack if he's not firmly in their camp. As the movie goes on we see perhaps even more compelling reasons why he's traumatized. Quite apart form her intentions in his prenatal days, we see that his mother is one who would make Susan Smith seem warm and caring by comparison. The movie (unwittingly, I suppose) creates considerable sympathy for Martin. But never mind all that. This movie is firmly committed to by-the-books political correctness. Because Martin is an abortion opponent and his mother is a doctor who performs abortions, don't imagine any room for suspense here as to who must be the villain and who must be his last victim. When some of his mother's former patients show up murdered and mutilated, Martin becomes the chief suspect. At one point (somewhere around halfway through) he seems to virtually confess to his lawyer (played by Gary Oldman) that he's the killer, hinting that he carries out a sort of divine justice against those who got abortions. Unquestionably here's a disturbed guy. But wouldn't a smart suspenseful plot development from that point be the following? Martin is no killer, but in his traumatized state almost admires whoever is and almost wants to take credit for those deeds and/or protect the real killer. Meanwhile his ice queen mother is a most conflicted pshcyopath, not at all totally secure in her belief in the morality of abortion but keeps providing them to have access to knowledge of who gets them, so she can exact her "vengeance" on them. But that would mean the movie would have to settle for being ambivalent on the subject of abortion. Its makers lacked the imagination and/or courage (probably both) to make that intriguing thriller. Instead what they do make from the point of Martin's virtual confession is as morose and boring as it is predictable.

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