Film Reviews

The Unborn

• Rating:
• Director: David S. Goyer
• Starring: Gary Oldman
• Details: US / 87mins (16).

To pay her way through college, Casey (Yustman, Cloverfield) takes a job as a babysitter and regrets it immediately – the little boy slaps her in the face with a mirror, telling her that 'Jumby wants to be born'. What? Already disturbed by nightmares, things start to go bump in bathroom cabinets, she sees things that aren't there and spooky-looking kids appear out of nowhere mumbling something cryptic. Oooh. When she learns she had a twin brother who died in the womb, strangled by her own umbilical cord, Casey suspects she's possessed and approaches Rabbi Sendak (Oldman) for an exorcism... It's surprising that Goyer, with writing credits like The Dark Knight and Dark City on his CV, can pen something so bereft of originality. With elements of The Eye, Mirrors, Shutter, The Ring, The Grudge and, obviously, The Exorcist, there's not a lot here that hasn't been done before. Doubling up as a director, Goyer makes the mistake that most contemporary American horror makes – with production values to the fore, this horror is too slick and polished to be scary. So if it's not the plot or the spooks that are the selling point, one look at the poster will tell you what is: Odette Yustman. Goyer has Yustman in her underwear, in the shower and bound and gagged on a gurney as often as he can. Yustman's looks can't be faulted and although she's 'okay' here, she lacks charisma (this hasn't hurt Orlando Bloom's career, though). The Unborn leaves itself open for a sequel that, with the lack of thought and invention on show here, will probably be called The Unborn 2: The Born.

Review by Gavin Burke