The Unborn

Genre - Horror
Year Released - 2009
Running Time - 87 minutes
Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence & terror, disturbing images, and language - including some sexual references)
Directed by David S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity, The Invisible, and the upcoming X-Men Origins: Magneto)
Written by David S. Goyer (Blade 1 - 3, as well as episodes of the television series - Dark City, Batman Begins & The Dark Knight, plus the upcoming The Flash - in 2010, and X-Men Origins: Magneto - in 2011)
Cast Includes:
Odette Yustman (Beth from Cloverfield)
Meagan Good (Brick, Venom, and Saw V)
Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down and Twilight)
James Remar (Dexter's father - from the Showtime series Dexter, Blade: Trinity, The Quest, The Phantom, The Warriors, etc)
Carla Gugino (Spy Kids 1 - 3, The One, Sin City, Righteous Kill, and the upcoming Watchmen and Race to Witch Mountain)
Jane Alexander (The Cider House Rules and The Ring)
and last, but certainly not least [one of my all-time favorite actors] Gary Oldman (True Romance, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Professional, Romeo is Bleeding, JFK, and of course his portrayal of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films and James Gordon in Batman Begins & The Dark Knight)

Rating: 5 Skulls

Plot Summary:
Tortured by frightening dreams at night and by the ghost of a young boy during the day, young Casey turns to a spiritual advisor named Rabbi Sendak for help. Together the two uncover and try to stop a powerful family curse, dating back to the Nazi era.

Review:
Well, I can now add a 2nd title to the great "PG-13" horror movies list [the only other worthwhile PG-13 horror film, in my opinion is The Ring] I never understood the whole PG-13 horror movie thing [other than the fact that it allows young teenagers to see films they otherwise might not be allowed to see] To me, a horror film should not worry about trying for a particular rating - just go all out and shoot what you wish to get across, and then go with the rating you receive. . .
However, when The Ring came out, in 2002, I left the theatre freaked out by that movie - it didn't help that when I got home [I had not even been home for a full minute] the phone started ringing :-)

With The Unborn, David Goyer has written & directed an extremely freaky and thought-provoking film [I love intelligent horror films!] In my mind, Goyer's vision has to have shone through in this film - and that's with the PG-13 rating! The film starts off on a freaky note, and doesn't let up!


Obviously, I am not going to give anything away, however I will tell you that the film dabbles in Jewish folklore, where we learn about a Dybbuk, [the soul of a dead person, trying to find a new body to inhabit] and as stated in the plot summary, things harken back to the Nazi era, where Nazi's were performing genetic testing on twins. . .

In my opinion, Odette Yustman completely sold her character's believability [and I'm not saying this, just because she's extremely hot! - I mean, c'mon, how many guys are going to go see this movie, solely based on the above poster?!?]


In all seriousness though, this really is a great movie - highly recommended - it's only the beginning of the year, and this may just make my end of the year's top ten horror films list :-)

Here's the Trailer:


Also, just in case you don't stay through the credits - no actual Torah scrolls were actually destroyed in the making of this film [I just thought that was pretty funny]

Jason

P.S. Don't forget - Jumby wants to be born now. . .