The Unborn Review

Written by: vxtq   

I'm going to call this one a missed opportunity.  There were some solid ingredients in there, but this tale of a troubled young woman doesn't add up to much other than a film seemingly aimed at "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" fans.

The plot features Casey, played by Odette Yustman, who is menaced by spooky things, particularly a ghostly young boy, who the film trots out any time it looks like they need something other than dialogue to happen.  Further investigation reveals that she had a twin that died when it was strangled by an umbilical chord.  That would be at least a reasonably interesting plot right there, but just after the 30 minute mark things go off the rails pretty big.  First, the investigation into the ghostly young boy's identity involves Auschwitz, and a whole other subplot of sorts, which I didn't think fit.  Instead of being brought further into the mystery or the horror of the story, I found myself questioning why this particular element/setting was being included in the film.  Around the time the story takes a turn, so do the visual elements onscreen. 

It's no surprise that there's quite a bit of CGI on hand, but some of the effects scenes are just laughably silly, probably not going to scare anybody over the age of 12.  I found the acting a mixed bag.  Lead actress Yustman has taken quite a bit of criticism but I didn't think she was that bad.  Gary Oldman turns up eventually but even his presence can't save the story or lack of true scares.  Meagan Good is cute but she doesn't have chemistry with Yustman's Casey and they're clearly meant to be best pals.  Probably the worst was Jane Alexander who had to deliver some trite unscary monologues.
 
They had the potential here for an interesting plot.  They had at least a couple good actors, and some behind camera talent, but what are we left with?  We get an intriguing first 30, the lead looks great in her undies, there's at least a bit of slick horror movie atmosphere (early on) but the story and visuals get ridiculous, and the ending doesn't save it at all.