Child of Darkness, Child of Light
Two virgin births foretell a divine and satanic child.
Child of Darkness, Child of Light is a 1991 American television horror film directed by Marina Sargenti. It is based on the 1980 novel Virgin by James Patterson. The film premiered on May 1, 1991, and was shot in Portland, Oregon.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Horror
- Director
- Marina Sargenti
- Producer
- Paul Tucker
- Based on
- Virgin, James Patterson
- Screenplay
- Brian Taggert
- Starring
- Tony Denison
- Brad Davis
- Paxton Whitehead
- Claudette Nevins
- Josh Lucas
- Sela Ward
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
- Music
- Jay Gruska
Facts from the source article.
Plot
A Vatican priest named Father Rosetti is dispatched to Briscayne Falls, a fictional town in Pennsylvania, to look into a reported virgin birth. Before he can reach his destination, a group of bikers attacks him on the road, causing a crash that leaves him in a catatonic state. The Vatican then sends Father Justin O'Carroll to take his place, cautioning him that seventy years earlier, in an Italian village, the Virgin Mary appeared and left a prophecy about a divine child being born at the end of the century. In Briscayne Falls, O'Carroll meets Margaret Gallagher, a pregnant fifteen-year-old living in poverty who claims she is still a virgin and is bullied by her classmates. Margaret suffers from painful visions of people dying, and when a bully tries to harass her, he is mysteriously wounded. O'Carroll also learns that a polio epidemic is spreading across the country. Upon returning to the Vatican, he discovers that another girl, the wealthy Kathleen Beavier in Boston, also claims a virgin pregnancy and may be linked to a second part of the prophecy concerning a child of Satan. O'Carroll realizes Kathleen's recent life exactly mirrors Margaret's, forcing him to determine which girl will bear which child. In the end, both give birth: Margaret delivers a boy, the antichrist, while Kathleen gives birth to a girl, the second coming.
Reception
Upon its release, Variety criticized the film in their review, stating that the only frightening thing about the film was how spiritless and ill-crafted it is. The Los Angeles Times also reviewed the film, commenting that unlike its Beastly predecessors in apocalyptic cinema, Child won’t scare anyone into the clutches of the church, but may inspire paroxysms of that divine healing force, laughter. In 2025 Dave Wain reviewed Child of Darkness, Child of Light for his website, praising the film's score and the acting of Lindfors, while criticizing the dialogue.
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