Dr. Venkman Reviews: THE UNBORN: C
"He wants to be born now." Is the tagline for this new horror film that was written and directed by David Goyer. I have kind of been hyping this movie up a little bit. I am a big horror movie fan, and I thought the trailer for the movie looked really good and when I went to see ‘The Unborn' I had high expectations for it. I thought it was going to be this really cool and really scary mess with your mind type film! I should have known better. I hate when I get pumped up for a movie just to be let down by they end result, which is exactly what happened with this film.
‘The Unborn' is a mediocre story, with cheap thrills, formula scare tactics, and bad acting. It just proves to me that David Goyer still can't direct a good movie on his own. I am sure the guy is at the top of his game when working with people like Christopher Nolan, they obviously make a great team, but when it comes to doing something on his own he just can't carry it.
The film wasn't a complete disaster though. There are plenty of laughs to be had due to bad horror movie stuff, and you will most likely jump in your seat a couple times due to the cheap thrills such as loud noises and scary little boy faces popping up out of no where. All the best parts of the movie are revealed in the trailer for the film.
The first hour of the film is pretty slow. They are trying to build up suspense but it comes off as being boring and repetitive. Hot girl character Casey played by Odette Yustman walking around the house in her underwear, trying to find out where the weird tapping noises are coming from, and seeing scary grey boy. There are a couple of butt shots with the character slowly turning toward the camera, at one point revealing camel toe. If that's what you're into then this could be the movie for you. Many of the male audience during the film would hoot and holla during these scenes. I found all this as a cheap gimmick to fill the seats with a male audience. To fill the seats with a female audience they cast one of the stars of Twilight Cam Gigandet.
Gary Oldman doesn't even make an appearance until halfway through the film. Once his character Rabbi Sendak is introduced, the movie starts to pick up momentum and get a little crazy. It is at this point where we see crazy old man turn into a contorted mess of a freak show and chase people around. That was pretty cool, inventive, and creepy but not enough to keep me awake at night thinking he is watching me from the dark corner of my room like the character Zelda did from Stephen King's ‘Pet Semetery'. The exorcism in the film is also pretty fun and intense but not as intense as the exorcism from ‘The Exorcist', I don't think anyone will ever be able to out film that thing.
And check this out! Carla Gugino has a role in the movie! She is in it for less than five minutes, and has no dialogue, but she plays Casey mother in the film.
The acting in the film was pretty wooden, Odette Yustman may be hot but she is not a very good actress. Even Gary Oldman wasn't that impressive, the role was kind of a waste of his talent. All the little kids in the film did a good job being creepy, but then kids are just creepy in general.
I think allot of people are going to like the movie. The audience I saw it with seemed to really enjoy it. Compared to today's horror movie standards it is pretty much right in line with every other horror film, there is nothing really to set it apart from the others. The one thing that I always enjoy when watching a horror movie like this is the stupidity of the characters. It never gets old, and it always gives us something to talk about during the movie. Discussing why the character did this, when they could have easily done that. All in all the movie was just weak sauce.