The Unborn (2009)

Directed by: David S. Goyer | 87 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Meagon Good, Cam Gigandet, Idris Elba, Jane Alexander, Atticus Shaffer, James Remar, Carla Gugino, CS Lee, Michael Sassone, Ethan Cutkosky, Craig J. Harris, Rachel Brosnahan, Kymberly Mellen, Brian Boland, Mindy Bell, Roslyn Alexander, Maury Cooper, Mandy Schneider, Guy Van Swearingen, Ericka Ratcliff, Savannah Walker, Domenica Fisher, Marssie Mencotti, Sarah Wellington, Alexis Wade, Tom Lowell, Kenya Drew, Scott Lindvall, Braden Moran, Aiden David Connor David, John Bryant, Lily Haydn, Richard Mosely, Ronnie Sellers, Joseph Luis Caballero, Rhys Coiro

How could the man behind the story of ‘The Dark Knight’ arrive the following year with a movie like this? That will be the question many want answered by David S. Goyer, writer and director of ‘The Unborn’. ‘The Unborn’ isn’t bad at all: it satisfies the average teenage horror aimed at occasionally scaring the audience, but often at the expense of the story, so here too. It is a pity that ‘a good start is half the battle’ does not always hold true. Because although ‘The Unborn’ starts strong, it only goes downhill after that.

When Casey (Odette Yustman) has to babysit her neighbor’s children, the oldest boy acts strange, not to say scary. After this event, Casey seems to be going mad, and continues to see the appearance of a little boy – terrifying. Slowly but surely, she learns that her family is under a dark curse. Her mother has already committed suicide over this and Casey doesn’t want to end up like this, so she enlists the help of a Rabbi (Gary Oldman) who must help her through an exorcism.

The images Casey sees may be scary to audiences at first (which is the point of a horror movie, of course), but the more we learn, the less creepy everything is. Those images are not life-threatening and only take place in her head. So you can keep wondering if she’s just going crazy – ineffective for a wannabe horror. In addition, the supporting roles are not convincing, not as actors, but also not in the story itself. Her boyfriend – who has to assist her in these difficult times – is hardly in the picture and halfway through the film you wonder where he is actually. Her friend is also just a snack so there is still a bit of gore in the movie, and is obviously only being introduced for that purpose. She is certainly not nice.

All in all, ‘The Unborn’ is a film that likes to resemble a strong Japanese or Korean horror, with the necessary clichés – such as the appearance of the demon. Unfortunately, the film is nowhere near this level. What remains is a film with a thin story, in which there is bad acting (also by good ol’ Oldman) with a number of thrills that are not enough to keep you interested.