The Unborn
DIR/WRI: David S. Goyer • PRO: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller • DOP: James Hawkinson • ED: Jeff Betancourt • DES: Craig Jackson • CAST: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Jane Alexander

After notable success in helping write the recent Batman films, David S. Goyer tries his hand at direction with the supernatural thriller, The Unborn. His last attempt being the muddled ghost story The Invisible, it was time for the writer to show his chops. Unfortunately, most of the problems surrounding the film stem from the director’s obvious limitations.

The film focuses on Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman), who is being haunted by a mythical spirit called a dybbuk, a soul so evil it is barred from crossing over into the next world and so must inhabit the body of one in this world to survive. As the creature grows more powerful only an exorcism will free Casey from the evil spirit.

With a couple of fine shots and a half-decent cast there is the foundation of a great horror film in there somewhere. Regrettably, The Unborn feels very much like a rehash of every other fright flick of the last 30 years. Possession, exorcism, evil kids, dream sequences, and plenty of The Exorcist rip-offs are all here. In Goyer’s attempt to overcome his lack of innovation, he has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at us.

For a film that seems to want to be more Rosemary’s Baby than Friday the 13th, it never gets beyond cheap telegraphed scares. There is a complete absence of suspense, while the supposedly revelatory ending could be guessed at after about ten minutes. It almost seemed pointless in revealing it at all.

Having gained his reputation as a writer, you think Goyer would have worked out the finer details of the plot. Unfortunately, most of the film makes so little sense you are left wondering why they bothered explaining as much as they did.

For instance, the dybbuk itself is intent on finding its way back into the world by means of possession. Throughout the film it inhabits half a dozen people. Why is it not simply happy with one of those?

Of course most horror films have frankly ridiculous plots and worse plot-holes but it is the presence of genuinely scary moments, crafted by a brilliant director, that elevate them above the mundane. Which brings us back once more to Goyer’s limitations.

Coming hot on the heels of the Friday the 13th remake you could praise The Unborn for at least trying something original. However, while the story itself may be new, everything else about it has been done before, and much better at that.

Kevin Forde
(Read biog here)

Rated 16 (see IFCO website for details)
The Unborn is released on 27th February 2009
The Unborn – Official website