Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Unborn (2009)



Number Rolled: 50
Movie Name/Year: The Unborn (2009)
Tagline: Evil will do anything to live.
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Length: 87 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Production Companies: Rogue Pictures, Platinum Dunes, Phantom Four, Relativity Media
Producer: Michael Bay, William S. Beasley, Jessika Borsiczky, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller
Director: David S. Goyer
Writer: David S. Goyer
Actors: Odette Annabel, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, Idris Elba, Jane Alexander, Atticus Shaffer, James Remar, Carla Gugino, C.S. Lee, Rhys Coiro, Michael Sassone, Ethan Cutkosky
Stunt Doubles: Nicole Callender, Marie Fink, Carl Paoli, Dave Pope, Deep Roy, Jeff Shannon, Jodi Starnes, Mark Steger, Rich Wilkie

Blurb from Netflix: Tortured by frightening dreams at night and a young boy’s ghost during the day, a teen turns to a spiritual adviser for help in this eerie thriller.


Selina’s Point of View:
A friend of mine warned me about this film about a year or two ago.

I can handle a lot in my horror films. Torture sequences don’t do much to me, neither do most jump scares. I have an issue with eyes and I have an issue with fetuses. Between the two of them, there was a lot for my friend to warn me about. Many of the horror scenes were based around my particular issues, which made this an incredibly difficult film for me to watch.

In general, if I didn’t have my particular brand of issues, I wouldn’t say it was all that different on the fear factor level than any other non-found-footage paranormal movie out there. It was mostly jump scares. Pretty much Exorcism 101.


The graphics, however, were kind of cool. There were a few things that could have looked corny, but they wound up having a more realistic touch to them that kept me from rolling my eyes.

There were some scenes that I feel didn’t made sense in the context of the story… and that did pull me out of it just a little bit. Not enough to dislike the movie, but enough to keep me from really being wowed.

Altogether, I’d say it’s a strong supernatural thriller with horror components. I might think to recommend it to someone with taste that goes in that direction.


Cat’s Point of View:
When you think of Michael Bay (I Am Number Four, Pain & Gain, Black Sails), it doesn’t exactly bring the horror genre to mind. There were no explosions or any of the other tropes that he’s well-known for. Then again, he was just a producer for this film.

The writing and directing credits go to the brilliant David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Invisible, Da Vinci's Demons). His body of work proves that he has a firm grasp on things dark and disturbing – things this film had in spades.

Seriously, there are a couple of scenes that will likely give me nightmares – again.

That’s right. Again. This wasn’t the first time I’ve watched this movie. It was more like the third or fourth time. I can’t remember which, but does it really matter? I was fairly giddy when the dice gave it to us this time. It doesn’t get old for me.


The creep-factor is real.

Unlike the film we reviewed for you last, this movie draws you into a cohesive story with interesting and engaging characters. For a minute, you might look at the young people and roll your eyes a bit with an ‘it’s going to be one of THOSE’ feeling – but then it takes a jog to the left. These, for the most part, weren’t flat stereotypes.

Can we talk cast here? The production team pulled out the big guns with Gary Oldman (Planet 51, The Book of Eli, Darkest Hour) and Idris Elba (No Good Deed, Beasts of No Nation, Molly's Game). You can look on IMDb and clearly see that Odette Annable (Cloverfield, House, The Truth About Lies) is a busy lady, as well. I can certainly see why. I’d have to say that it’s not often that a character in a movie simultaneously brings the thoughts ‘awww’ and ‘holy shit’ to mind; but Cam Gigandet (Pandorum, Easy A, Red Sky) pulled that one off here with his role as Mark.

If you’re looking for a solid movie with some roots in folklore and seriously creeptastic content, give this one a shot.


Languages
Speech Available: English
Subtitles Available: English

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 10%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 30%
Metascore - 30/100
Metacritic User Score – 5.1/10
IMDB Score – 4.8/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating3/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating4/5

Movie Trailer:

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