The Unborn

Directed by: David S Goyer

Starring: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Meagan Good, James Remar, Carla Gugino

Synopsis:

A Young woman fights the evil spirit which is slowly possessing. Whilst she researches into the reasons why this is happening she discovers secrets from her family past including why her Mother took her own life. As she gets nearer the truth, her friends and remaining family are put into mortal danger.



Review:

As David S Goyer wrote and directed this, I had high hopes if not high expectations. He was involved with the screenplays for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight whilst producing Blade 2 and Blade Trinity and Blade the tv Series.

Like Silent Hill, the hook for me was the visuals. Screenshots and artwork showed some hideous creations that potentially signposted a genuinely frightening film. Sadly, the film doesn’t live up to the promotional shots. An opportunity was definitely missed, here, to create a nightmare that was at least on par with the nightmarish visions of Silent Hill.

Clearly, newcomer Odette Yustman (Cloverfield) is a good looking woman, with a blend of Jessica Alba and Megan Fox. The director obviously thought so too, as she is lit and filmed with an attention to detail that wouldn’t look out of place in an advert for women’s cosmetics. Unfortunately, the special effects aren’t filmed with an equal amount of care, leading to a lack of tension where the film could have elevated itself. Whilst Yustman does a good job despite the script’s shortcomings, she lacks any personality. Far too much time is spent with the camera ogling her sculptured body.

Meagan Good is wasted in a stereotypical role as the plucky friend who, despite having an open mind finds it hard to understand (initially) what her friend is going through until it’s far too late. As I found, logic doesn’t play a great part in this film. The always dependable James Remar gets some good scenes only to disappear about two thirds through the film. His motivations aren’t clear at all. Gary Oldman seems to be acting in a different film, as if he’s read only his script pages and doesn’t know how it all fits in to the rest of the movie; which to be fair might not have helped him anyway.

Carla Gugino is also wasted in a minor role that could have easily been expanded. But at 87 minutes, The Unborn did feel like a long haul without adding anything more. The always dependable Idris Alba is another wasted addition, picking up a cheque in between RocknRolla and an appearance in The Office.

Part of the problem is this annoying trend of making horror films that are PG-13 rated. I get that studios need to get bums on seats and that the only way this can be done is getting as wide a demographic as possible but horror movies are meant to be aimed at an adult audience. However, I feel that even if the movie was a harder cut with a bit of gore and “scarier” scenes it wouldn’t help a convoluted, confused script with cliché characters and dodgy German accents.

Verdict:

There are far more intelligent, more effective horror movies out there. Check those out.

2/10 (Wayfarer)