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74 out of 89 people found the following review useful: Jumby wants to be in a better movie, 22 March 2009 Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Well at least the trailer was scary, from the moment I saw the trailer for The Unborn I knew I wanted to see this movie, it looked so freaky and like the ultimate scare. So before it left theaters, I finally saw it and I should've realized, it's PG-13, how rare is it that we get a PG-13 horror movie that is actually scary? Sadly all the "intense" moments were shown in the trailer and I was extremely disappointed with this lousy movie. I couldn't believe how bad it was, it once again has every cliché in a horror film that you can imagine: the black best friend, the loving boyfriend, the hot skinny girl who is constantly in her underwear, the jumps, the mirrors, the nightmares, the over acting. I do have one question: did Gary Oldman owe someone a favor when he took this film? It's just mind-boggling, he's this terrific actor and he was in this really predictable stupid story? Well, hopefully he'll recover soon from this sad excuse for a horror film.Casey Beldon is plagued by merciless dreams, visions of strange looking dogs, and an evil child with bright blue eyes. Casey is baby-sitting Matty, her neighbor's son. He is upstairs, supposedly taking a nap. Casey is downstairs talking on the phone to her best friend Romey. Suddenly, there is a voice that says "Jumby wants to be born now," on the baby monitor used for Matty's baby sister. After yelling, "Matty, are you awake?" Casey goes upstairs to check on them. Matty was standing over the baby's crib, holding a mirror to the baby's face. After being hit with the mirror, Casey's eyes begin to change color and she learns she had a twin brother who died in the womb. Casey begins to suspect that the spirit haunting her is the soul of her dead twin, being possessed by a dybbuk, wanting to be born so it can transfer to the world of the living. Casey meets a woman named Sofi, who is revealed to be her grandmother. Sofi explains that she had a twin brother who was killed in Nazi experiments in Auschwitz when they were both just children. The boy was brought back to life by a dybbuk who intended to use his body as a portal into the world of the living. Sofi killed her twin to stop the dybbuk, and now it haunts her family for revenge. Sofi refers Casey to Rabbi Sendak, who can perform a Jewish exorcism to remove the dybbuk.This was a huge disappointment, I wouldn't really recommend it. The acting and writing were over done, what could have made this more realistic or scary is just a touch up on the writing. The lead actress Odette Yustman really needs experience, she was just alright in the film. Of course I love the cliché of the crazy black best friend who calls her crazy at first but then all of a sudden is attacked at last second. If you do watch this, if you want a good scare, turn on the lights, I admit there are still some freaky moments, better than most of the PG-13 horror movies, but the story was just bad. It just could have been a lot better.3/10
46 out of 58 people found the following review useful: Woeful, 13 March 2009 Author: el_mariachi101 from United Kingdom
Having seen the trailers for 'Unborn' and admiring David S. Goyer's writing talents on films such as 'The Dark Knight' I was kind of looking forward to it. I knew it wouldn't be much more than a typical Hollywood attempt at horror but I thought I'd get at least 90 minutes of entertainment out of it. I was wrong.The story is terribly contrived and goes through the typical horror story motions from start to finish: childhood trauma - check! Nightmares - check! It also takes so much content from other films its unbelievable. More unbelievable is the fact that it botches these 'homages' every time. The film plods on and on attempting to at least get a jump out of you (which it fails at) until finally you get to the finale. Needless to say, the finale is also terrible. More so because at least the one thing the film does manage to do is contain the odd decent special effect. However, the finale for some reason doesn't contain any of these effects and resorts to actors merely wearing contact lenses.I'm perhaps being a bit harsh giving the film a 3/10 but given the actors involved and David S. Goyer's obvious writing talent, this film really should have delivered far more.
52 out of 74 people found the following review useful: Typical American Horror Flick, 10 January 2009 Author: kamiblakrow from United States
OK, let me get this out in the open immediately: this movie is pretty predictable if you have been watching any 'new' American Horror flick within the past five years, complete with gratuitous shots of Fox's, excuse me, Yutsman's backside. To its credit, the movie does have a great amount of potential from the source material, but fails to give birth to it. The effects are well done, the acting is decent (for the genre at least), and I left the movie feeling that I was at least entertained for the last 87 min (although I did wish that they would have cut out 10min. or so in the middle and made the final confrontation longer and better).If you already like watching these kinds of movies, the Unborn certainly doesn't try to do anything different then what has already been done, and is worth watching; But you are expecting a radical departure from the typical Horror flick, this ain't it.
95 out of 163 people found the following review useful: Ug, 11 January 2009 Author: bfalcon-1 from United States
This movie was easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Theacting was horrible. The script was uninspired. This was a movie that kept contradicting itself. The film was sloppy and unoriginal. I was very disappointed and angry when I left the theater. I only give it a 2 because Gary Oldman appeared in this excuse of a film. He is the only excuse to see this film. And thats not even a good enough reason, as he phoned in his performance. Its not like I was expecting a good film. Just something to give me a jump or two. This did not even do that. This film is not only not worth the ten dollars I paid to see it, but its was not worth the hour and a half I spent watching it.
59 out of 93 people found the following review useful: Unintentionally Funny- Not In A Good Way, 21 January 2009 Author: log1324 from United States
Its ironic that this movie came out the week that the nominations for the Razzie Awards were released. I have a hunch that this film may garner a few nominations for that "prestigious" award next year.This film is awful. It has no clue where it wants to go and takes quite a lot of time getting there. The story is about young Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman). She is a girl in school, working as a babysitter for some extra money. This is when she encounters a four year-old kid that she is sitting who appears to be evil. Soon, she is seeing the evil of that kid in her daily life. To rid herself of this, she begins examining her family history. This includes a mother (Carla Gugino) who was depressed and killed herself, a mysterious old woman in her mothers photos (Jane Alexander) who has had issues in the past, and her friends. Upon recommendation, she decides to have an exorcism performed by the rabbi (Gary Oldman). If you are getting ahead of me in the plot, you've basically got it right in your mind.The writing is mediocre, and that is perhaps kind. The beginning of the story is simply about showing as much of Ms. Yustman's body that can be allowed in a PG-13 movie. If that couldn't be done in one scene, they come back to it four or five times. The story follows cliché after cliché and takes forever to really begin. The frights are minimal and within 20 minutes I was laughing at what I think was supposed to be scary. This movie is unintentionally funny once you pick up where it is going and what it is trying to do.The one minor redeeming factor of this movie was some of the camera work. There were a few angles that were used that felt greatly different than the others, felt fresh and felt well placed. Those few shots cannot, however, overcome some of the worst over-acting I've ever seen, a poor script, and a lack of direction for a vast majority of the film. If you are an absolute horror film junkie, go ahead and have a laugh. If you are a fan of bad movies, enjoy. If you are looking for an enjoyable fright, look elsewhere.
84 out of 150 people found the following review useful: Dumb., 11 January 2009 Author: startumbler92 from United States
I wasn't planning on seeing this movie, but my friend invited me along, so I said I'd go. I didn't have good expectations of the movie from the very first time I saw the preview at the Twilight premiere.The movie isn't scary. There are a bit of unusual parts to it, but nothing that will give you nightmares unless you are easily scared. The only parts that made me jump were when there was silence and something made a sudden noise.Instead of screaming, our theater was filled with laughter. I almost had the urge to leave the theater before the movie was finished, but I still wanted to see the end of this terrible movie.After the movie, my friend apologized from taking me to the movie. Her other friend thought it was terrible as well. As I was walking out, a woman told a man, "Next time, I pick the movie." Definitely not worth the $10 I paid.I found the plot long and drawn out. It was simply a time filler in my night.
25 out of 36 people found the following review useful: The Exorcism of Casey Beldon..., 1 April 2009 Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China
January is not such a good time for movies. The holiday season is over people are getting back to work and school and their normal lives, and the movie studios seem to take this opportunity to unload all their half-witted movies that probably no one is going to be interested in anyway. It seems that way every time I see a movie like The Unborn, anyway. This thing is so thin and weak it's like a cinematic version of weak tea, and weak tea is not something you want your audience to be thinking about while they're suffering through your scary movie.Brought to us by the director of Blade: Trinity (and pretty much nothing else), The Unborn is the story of a girl who had a twin that died in utero because her umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck in the womb and strangled him, and she didn't become aware of it until decades later when his evil spirit decided that he was ready to be born now.Sadly, the movie relies almost entirely on endless shots of creepy kids with deadpan expressions and, occasionally, colored contact lenses. But don't go thinking the clichés stop there, the movie is so jam-packed with cheap horror techniques that it almost feels like an educational experience in everything to avoid doing in making a scary movie.The extreme close-up of the mutated babyface and the sudden screeching noise when the eyes flip open used to be a pretty scary effect. I can't remember when that was, it's been a number of decades now, but there was a time in the distant past when that shot had a cool effect. Now it's been so overdone and copied that it's no loner anything more than a big red flag that the movie you're watching is wasting your time!In the movie's defense, it has a clear ability to create a tense atmosphere. Much of it is beautifully photographed, and the combination of the slow tracking shots and the moody music give a feeling of unease which, in a better movie, could easily pave the way for a genuinely freaky horror show. But unfortunately, every bit of the rest of the movie is as wispy and uninteresting as a pair of old underwear.Odette Yustman stars as the afflicted Casey Beldon, faced with a terrible situation in which she is slowly losing her soul to an invading demon, back for revenge for that one pesky sibling rivalry that they had before they were born. Poor Casey finds out at the most vulnerable time that she inadvertently killed her own brother, which has to have some kind of devastating effect on a person, even one who is not in such an, ah, emotional state as Casey is in.Oh, and speaking of emotional states, there is a point where Casey is absolutely certain that she is being pursued by an evil spirit, and even when the bizarre things that have been happening to her seem to leave no room for any other explanation, her lunkhead boyfriend says this to her – "I don't think you're crazy, I just think you're hormonal."A word of advice, gentlemen – I don't claim to be any kind of all-knowing expert about the wonders and mysteries of the fairer sex, but I tend to have a natural feeling that if your girlfriend is upset about something, the suggestion that it's "that time of the month" is generally a pretty efficient way to make yourself single. Or bruised and swollen somewhere. And if she's upset because she's being pursued by demons, she may just cut to the chase and kill you.Besides, it's clear that Casey needs a lot of help, because not only does she make all of those breathtakingly stupid decisions that horror movie cannon-fodder generally make, but she also begins to appear more and more crazy to the people around her as she begins to believe more and more that this demonic possession thing is happening to her for real.Of course, making her look crazy is neither surprising nor interesting. It's an ancient horror movie technique intended to make the supernatural element seem more real by giving us someone to relate to – the people who are looking at this girl like she's a total lunatic. Unfortunately, when the character is so undeveloped and uninteresting that it's impossible to care about her, this crazy element does nothing for the suspense. Except maybe reverse it.There are certainly some interesting visuals in the movie, even some of the clichés (a good many of them involving the old bathroom mirror scare) are older than the hills but at least look pretty cool.The spider-walk is lifted directly out of The Exorcist (and it's such an obvious plagiarism that I'm going to go ahead and chalk it up to an homage), and there are some pretty clever manifestations of the demon, but the movie is so slow and plodding and full of half-assed performances (even the great Gary Oldman is totally dismissable here) that it feels like even the movie is sleeping through itself. And it doesn't help matters that the climax of the film is an exorcism that consists of a lot of strobe lights and big fans in a low-rent studio.Believe it or not, I didn't hate the movie, but I'm a long-time horror fan and I have a tendency to enjoy horror movies that most other people would punch me for suggesting. But whether or not you enjoy the lower half of the horror genre, it's definitely true that there are quite a few much better movies about demonic possession that would be a far better use of your time than The Unborn. Personally, I suggest The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is one of the best I've seen…
24 out of 35 people found the following review useful: A diabolical train-wreck of derivative horror movie absurdities., 27 April 2009 Author: Jamie Ward from United Kingdom
We get them every year now; so much so that it would probably feel a little odd, maybe even a little perplexing to the most avid of cinema goers not to be treated to the cinematic trite that is the generic Hollywood horror. And yet, despite the frequency and predictability to which such movies subscribe themselves to upon release during the lowest peaks of the year—they never seem to loose their impact. Of course, I must iterate that by using the term "impact" that I by no means indorse the idea that movies such as The Unborn manage to strike up any sort of reaction sans mind-numbingly potent boredom. No, instead the form of "impact" that The Unborn manages to achieve is one that is recycled year in, year out with such ventures in the clichéd and banal world of the modern cash-cow horror. It's the impact of "Wait, this is it? This is what I paid £8 to see? Wasn't this released in 2003?"—If your average Hollywood Horror is horror by the numbers then this is a severe case of number crunching gone mad on the part of those involved.It's somewhat ironic then that such feature should be so confusingly named The Unborn. As if the notion of an unborn idea or concept could be so potent within the mind of film-maker big-shot David S. Goyer, the entirety of what happens to be one of his few ventures into directing makes clear why he should stick to producing and writing. From beginning to long overdue end, The Unborn is an uncouth, contorted mess of genre clichés, underdeveloped ideas, paper-thin characters and scares that manage to become even more tiresome than the regurgitated protagonists that they inflict themselves upon. From the creepy looking children pulling out the Ominous Stare of Death on empty roads to the wise, prophetic old coot who obviously took too much LSD in the sixties talking in riddles and spiritual mumbo jumbo-isms, Goyer's script here serves not as a testament to how horror should be done, but the exact antithesis. Of course, there are certain highlights to the feature which are infrequent and nevertheless rendered obsolete by the brain-dead mediocrity that surrounds them, but even the cliché of the pretty brunette panicking in her skimpy underwear doesn't offer much hope. What then, do you have? Well, nothing really.Aside from the odd visual effect here and there that at least doesn't look terrible by contrast, and a few cameo performances that help bring the feature up a small notch; the majority of The Unborn is a dreary mix of mundane plotting and direction with lifeless portrayals by B-grade thespians who are as disconnected from the project as you could possibly be. For the most part, the story follows our protagonist as she seeks to reveal the scientific fact of why she has starting having horrific visions featuring a pale-skinned boy who keeps going on about someone wanting to be born. From here the feature tries to rationalise the irrational; throwing in some superstitious mysticism as concrete explanation and tossing it around as some sort of "aha!" logical slice of catharsis. Of course, with every horror feature, one must accept that certain leaps of faith must be made in order to indulge in the experience—yet with The Unborn, such a leap would mean to abandon faith entirely and subscribe to sheer lunacy; so how does an endless plummeting freefall sound, and would you pay for it? Again, this wouldn't be so detrimental if indeed Goyer had portrayed the events depicted here as anything but a contrived mess of over-indulgence existing only to challenge the viewer's perceptions of reality; but this isn't the case.Instead what Goyer achieves here is a diabolical train-wreck of derivative horror movie absurdities infused with an uninspired sense of misdirection and humourless drivel. With every release of such a nature, there are of course the proponent objectors who will argue that the horror film is nothing to be taken seriously. And yet, I must ask; if I cannot be moved, scared, compelled, or even amused by a movie akin to the ninety minute catastrophe that is The Unborn, then what exactly is the point in watching at all? Indeed, if there are any advocators of Goyers' work here, I make no qualms at questioning their sanity, attention span or affliction for cinematic sadism. And yet, I honestly feel like David summed up the problem with his feature rather ironically through one of his own characters' words that I will use here to send off The Unborn back into the confines of the memory waste-basket."I can't say I truly believe in what's afflicting you, but I think you believe." - A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)
15 out of 18 people found the following review useful: shock after shock, but a terrible lack of suspense, 23 June 2009 Author: Bo-Devvlicious from Netherlands
Just saw The Unborn, when I saw the trailer I thought well this might actually be a good little horror flick. While I would not say this was a terrible movie, it unfortunately did have some mistakes.This entire film is basically a marathon of shocks, crazy situations and (some) pretty creepy ghosts/demons, so I guess, being a horror fan, thats a good thing, right? well, in this case, its not. The Unborn certainly does not lack in the horror department, showcasing some rather creepy moments, but unfortunately the movie lacks of any suspense, buildup, character development, nor does it have a good script.Odette Yustman does pretty good, but it's not her fault her performance comes through less, its the script. The movie, from the exact second it begins, delivers 'scare' after scare after scare, but the sad thing is, its not that scary because you don't care about the characters or the story, and there's no buildup whatsoever to speak of.Its actually a terrible waste, because this movie could have been a solid genre effort, too bad the director/ writer chose the easy way out, and delivered what is one the laziest, been-there-done-that productions of the year.Entertaining it is to some degree, but its not a full recommendation
16 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Dead on Delivery, 19 February 2009 Author: simon-prometheus from Canada
It is of little surprise to come across a lame horror film in the early year studio dumping grounds but it is however surprising to learn that such a film is not an Asian horror remake even if it seems to be trying quite hard to be one. One thing I would like to clear up is that this is not The Uninvited (a superior thriller) this is The Unborn (a superiorly bad chiller), so make sure you don't go to the wrong one.David S. Goyer is a peculiar man. Having scripted and developed stories for fantastic films such as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Blade and some other upcoming superhero efforts, every time he fortes' into directing the results are all but underwhelming. That is not to say all writers can direct as this is certainly not the case, but I am confused as how even the writing in the features he directs are poor such as with the finale, Blade: Trinity the disappointing The Invisible and now this. He is certainly talented so his failures are even more disillusioning.Many horror films go downhill around the time of their finale, but after a solid opening, The Unborn succumbs to the doldrums after the thirty minute mark roles around and continues shooting itself in the foot until the yawn inducing climax. What I found to be the largest determent to this fright flick is its lack of atmosphere. When looking at movies like The Uninvited or The Orphanage their stories are smart and the twist is never at the expense of the preceding acts. They are about atmosphere and build-up and are only perforated by 'boo' moments. The Unborn on the other hand is all about the boogie monster popping out and the story exists only as a mould for its dirt cheap scares.Following the suicide of her mother years earlier Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) has all but moved on with her life. She enjoys hanging with her sarcastic friend Romy (Meagan Good) and sees a future with her boyfriend Mark (Cam Gigandet). But following an odd encounter during a babysitting job across the street her past is forced back upon her. She learns she is a twin following the discovery of a genetic eye colour abnormality. Casey's father explains the young Beldon died in utero with her cord wrapped around his neck. Subsequently she is haunted by strange visions and horrible dreams and seeks council from a rabbi (Gary Oldman) and her long lost grandmother and is willing to do anything to rid herself of the possession slowly taking control of her.I am not going to delve into the full plot in this review because to be honest, it is far to jumbled to fit into a coherent paragraph. And jumbled is exactly what the story becomes and as Casey's newly found grandmother (why her father failed to tell her, or why she failed to look Casey up is never explained) begins to ramble about dead twins, Nazi's and ancient lore it becomes too convenient and too stupid to invest in. Jane Alexander who plays Casey's grandmother, a former Auschwitz resident, is utterly awful and whose idea it was to simply add V's to the beginning of all her words to emulate a German accent. Gary Oldman seems lost and partially embarrassed to be in such trash and is actually overshadowed by Yustman who made her equally well acted debut as the damsel in distress in Cloverfield. Even with some effective, if not cheap, scares The Unborn boasts far too many lulls between the frights to remain at all involving. The downtime is crammed with expositive plot elements and Casey running around in her underwear. One thing that can sometimes keep a film lacking this much afloat is a strong lead. While Yustman is strong her character acts so irrationally and evokes such a bizarre demeanour even I found it hard at time to believe her stories about demon Nazi babies and I knew what was going on (mostly). With some fun slasher flicks entering theatres and The Uninvited providing a far smarter and more effective outlet for horror fans, The Unborn seems dead on delivery.3.5 / 10.0Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com
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