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Not all that long ago, I asked Rachel if she would like me to publish reviews here at Top Horror Movie Club. Obviously she liked that idea, since here I am. My plans for this weekend, I intended to go see the new 8 Films To Die For, fell through. Since I had made plans to go watch horror movies, I remembered that The Unborn (2009) was opening as well. I figured why not go see it instead. It also gave me something to write about here. This month seems to be loaded with new horror movies. I believe that there is at least one horror movie opening each week this month. If I have the time, I hope to go see each one, and write about them here. No promises though.
The Unborn begins with us meeting Casey (Odette Yustman), in a dream that she is having. It involves her jogging, when she comes across a lost glove, that appears to have been dropped by a child. Casey looks around, and sees a child that only has one glove. As the camera pans around her, the child turns into a dog wearing a mask. It is a dream after all. She goes into the woods, and finds the mask, which is partly in the ground. As she digs it out, she discovers a fetus in some kind of container. From there, we get to know Casey a little better. We discover that she is in college, has a boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), hangs out with her bestfriend (Meagan Good) a lot, and will sometimes babysit for the family across the street. It is a pretty normal life, until the neighbor boy hits her in the head with a little hand held mirror, while saying that “Jumby wants to be born now.” Not a very friendly kid I guess. After this, Casey begins to see strange things, and has even stranger dreams. When her friends notice that her left eye is changing colors, Casey discovers that she is a twin. Does this have anything to do with her mother killing herself? What does any of it have to do with the strange little boy she keeps seeing, in and out, of her dreams?
The Unborn centers itself around a Jewish folklore called a dybbuk. According to Wikipedia, “In Kabbalah and European Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person.” This makes The Unborn at least somewhat original to me, right there. I have never heard of a dybbuk before. The fact that I’m not Jewish probably has something to do with that. This is all explained in the film, thanks to the character of Sofi (Jane Alexander). Sofi doesn’t explain everything, but she does tell us how the events we have been watching, connect with events back during the Holocaust. This is where the connecting of the dots start. It could have just as easily been a mere ghost that is haunting Casey. But instead, it is steeped in folklore, which makes the story better in the long run.
The effects end up being something of a mixed bag. The Unborn relies heavily on CGI type effects. If the guys sitting behind me, who annoyed me to no end, were of any indication, some of the effects come off as laughable, instead of scary. Personally, I didn’t find any of them funny, but I did feel some went too far over the top. Some of the effects work, one actually made me jump, which is saying something right there. The CGI was used way to often for my liking though. Be on the look out for some very strange effects in this film. I have no problem with the strange, just don’t keep using them until I get bored with it. The acting was well done. I could be wrong on this, but I think this is Odette Yustman’s first leading role. If you go by some other reviews, it seems the acting was a major issue. As someone that watches more horror movies than is probably good for me, I often don’t find issues with the acting like some people do. Odette Yustman could have reacted to things a little better at times, some of the things she just shrugs off, would have creeped me out. Gary Oldman has a small role, which people seem to discredit as well. In all fairness to him, he wasn’t given a whole lot of screen time. That is something of a curse for The Unborn. Casey is the central character, while almost everyone else isn’t given a whole lot to do.
I can see The Unborn being a little too weird for some people. When you see a dog, with its head upside down, it’s just a little on the weird side, you know? I love all things weird though, so this was an actual plus for me. The fact that they ran it into the ground was not. Word of advice if you do decide to catch this film, pay attention! I got the feeling, after reading other reviews (something I do just to get an idea of where others stand compared to me), that they weren’t always doing this. The plot makes sense, it is pretty much all there for you to make the connections. You just need to pay attention to it. The ending could have been a tad better, it leaves things a little too open for me. I had no idea as to who lived, and who died in the final battle, expect for the important characters anyway. The Unborn comes close to being a movie that I loved. If it wasn’t for overused CGI effects, I think it would have been. As it is though, I have watched much worse than this.
3 out of 5 Ghostly boys just aren’t as scary as ghostly girls
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Well Howdy Miss Heather,
It is always great to me to find another great review from my favorite flippered female, even if I have to go to another blog to do so maam (smiling). I am glad you were able to actually watch one on the big screen, as you certainly deserved that sweet lady, especially given what After Dark did to such a huge fan.
It is a shame that the CGI effects apparently bothered you as much as they did sweet lady, as I always grin much wider when the movie you are discussing turns out to be one that your really enjoyed too. Any of your 4s or even rarer 5s always get my attention as movies I have to watch. Shucks Miss Heather, your 3s produce that same reaction for me, as I know your 3s would easily equate to 4s given out by many other reviewers. I do not consider you a hard scorer, just one who requires a movie to meet certain standards to obtain a certain score. So I do see you as a consistent scorer, which I admire and have come to depend upon maam.
Yes maam, I will have to admit that this film does sound as if it can be a bit weird at times, lol. But us sick puppies don’t really mind weird at all, so that aspect will not bother me in the least. Besides I have found that weird often goes a long way in keeping my attention fixed on the movie. I tend to miss less things, as I am watching more intently, waiting for the next weird even to appear, hehehe.
Personally I think no one should ever have to put up with the southbound end of northbound horses while watching movie, especially one they have paid good money to see. I go through life doing my best to be one of the nicest folks other could ever wish to deal with - as long as folks allow me to act that way. I prefer to function largely as a teddy bear, although the grizzly side is there if even needed too, lol. The first time some idiot really begins to interfer with my watching the movie I have paid to see, I turn and express myself as a teddy bear. I explain my hearing is poor and ask them to not speak as loudly as they have been, as it prevents me from hearing what the actors are saying. But if I have to turn back around, (or lean forward for that matter) I am a bit more like a grizzly at that point in explaining the “if A, then B” way of things.
Now the southern gentleman certainly would never suggest this southern belle demean herself by resorting to violence maam. Besides, for a situation like that one, I seriously doubt if you have it in you Miss Heather. So instead I simply will suggest, next time, ask them politely once to quiet down. If that fails to produce the desired compliance, I would suggest you turn back around and manage to spill your large soda all over the offenders. That would probably prompt them to get up to dry off a bit. I seriously doubt if they would decide to sit back down behind you at that point sweet lady - especially if they noticed you had obtained another giant refill while they were in the bathroom drying off (grinning). Just a suggestion Miss Heather, but one I really like too, hehehe. Point of fact, you don’t have to be crazy to be a sick puppy, but personally I have always found it to be helpful too.
The negative impact of the repeated CGI effects aside Miss Heather, you had enough good things to say about this movie, that I will have to give it a watch for sure. Since I had been hoping to luck into the After Dark series actually showing up magically in a local area location, but did not have it happen, maybe I owe myself a big screen treat as well maam (smiling). But I think your location may be just a bit more user friendly on horrors opening weekly too maam. I will have to check and see if I can even find the Unborn in my general neck of the woods. I know it is not playing at the one 3 blocks from me. So if I can find it at all, it will be up in the big city. But when I check my movies on my ISP homepage, I have the local and one I normally find has the movies I am looking for up in the big city pop up as my saved favorites. I did not see THE UNBORN listed for either one, so I will have to do some searching too. It may be since they have to go nearly across the country as well, that they will not show up here for another week or two, who knows. But I will keep a watch on the listing for this one too Miss Heather.
Thanks again for making me aware of one I want to watch, and for making me smile. I am happy to see that regardless of the blog you are posting your thoughts on, it is still the same ole killer review your fans have come to expect and love from you maam. Keep up the great work, and I am already looking forward to reading your next one too. But what else is new on that one right (smiling, tips my hat).
Weird is good - but I am sure that you already knew that I would say that.
I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this movie yet, but it sounds like it is worth the time.
Thanks for the review!
Howdy again Miss Heather. I managed to tape this flick off of cable Saturday night. But while watching it, I got involved in typing comments to a Mermaid’s reviews of some of the AD4 flicks (batting my eyes). So there were parts of it that I knew I had missed. Since you made the point of "pay attention", I just had the time to sit down and really watch it for the first time.
My initial reactions are basically, nice flick, hehehe. I think I probably enjoyed it a bit more than you did maam. But primarily because I don’t worry so much about GCI effects, I just try to let myself go with the movie as much as possible. So I did not really get tired on the CGI effects. But I do agree that some were a bit overused too. I also have to agree with your score line. Maybe I have watched too many asian horrors, lol. Normally when there is a ghost/spirit/presence (take your pick) it involves a younger female. I do agree that creepy girls are creepier than creepy boys.
I found it a bit odd that some of the smaller effects seemed to really work well for me in this movie. Like Casey’s eyes changing color over time for example. That simply worked very well for me. I never had a rare shiver than I enjoy when a flick really works well for me. But there were times I could feel the tension building towards that. Sadly, that tension would dissipate before giving me a shiver. But I guess the tension alone was nice enough to make me enjoy this one more than I was expecting.
If I were giving this one a score, I would probably give it a 4. But this is one I want to watch a couple of more times carefully, before I assign a final score to it. But thanks for reviewing this one Miss Heather, as I definitely felt it was worth my time for sure (smiling, tips my hat).