Movie Review: The Unborn

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Official Tagline: Plagued by nightmares and visitations from tortured ghosts, Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) turns to a spiritual adviser named Sendak (Gary Oldman) for help. They discover a family curse that dates back to Nazi Germany: an evil spirit that can take over the body of anyone and is getting stronger with each possession, as it tries to gain full entrance to this world.

Written by: David Goyer.
Directed by: David Goyer.

Starring: Odette Annable [as Odette Yustman], Gary Oldman, Meagan Good and Cam Gigandet

The Unborn is a horror film from director and writer David Goyer and Goyer has had some good film and television projects. So I had some high hopes for The Unborn, but was disappointed. I saw this when it first came out in theaters and noticed that it is now on Netflix so I thought I would share my thoughts on the film.

The movie follows Casey Beldon, a young woman who is suddenly haunted by horrific nightmares that begin to intrude into real life. Casey is played by the lovely Odette Annable [as Odette Yustman], who was seen in the film Cloverfield and in The Astronaut Wives Club. Odette does a serviceable job carrying the film, but is given very little to work with from writer/director Goyer. To see her acting ability and her badass side check out Cinemax’s Banshee and her character, Nola Longshadow. There is an exciting scene of Casey in two sizes too small panties and tank top that leaves an enduring image, but that is not enough to carry an entire movie.
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The supporting cast is led by Gary Oldman, Meagan Good and Cam Gigandet and are little more than shadows. There is little character development and we really could care less if these characters live or die and in this kind of movie they usually die, but we should care if they do or not. The story meanders around and loses momentum and tension and these a vital to any story, especially a horror story.

The main problem with the Unborn is that Director Goyer did not see the flaws in the screenplay by writer Goyer. The story at first concerns Casey being haunted by the spirt of her unborn dead twin brother that she never knew existed. If Goyer had stayed focused on this plot, then I believe he would have made a much stronger film. Unfortunately writer Goyer wanted to include elements of his vast research and the story goes off into Jewish demons and exorcism and the audience is lost in the process. When the writer/director loses his focus, then the audience cannot keep their suspension of disbelief and are soon questioning the choices the characters are making and soon tune out of the story.

The Unborn isn’t a terrible movie, but with few scares and little suspense the only real thing to recommend the movie is Odette Annable and can only do so much with the script she had to work with.
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Screen Writer Ink
Fade In Is Just The Beginning

The Unborn isn't a terrible movie, but with few scares and little suspense the only real thing to recommend the movie is Odette Annable
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