The Unborn (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:103
Fresh:12
Rotten:91
Average Rating:3.2/10
Consensus: David Goyer's Unborn is a tame genre effort with cheap thrills and scares that border on silliness.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Feb 26, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $42,638,165
Synopsis: Sometimes the soul of a dead person has been so tainted with evil that it is denied entrance to heaven. It must endlessly wander the borderlands between worlds, desperately searching for a new body... [More]
Starring: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Meagan Good, Idris Elba
Director: David Goyer
Reviews for The Unborn
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 1.5/5 |
Some of the ideas here may seem original, if questionable, but the treatment -- by writer-director David Goyer -- is strictly conventional, with the shock moments obviously inserted at regular intervals, usually while the heroine is in her underwear. Full Review |
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The script tries hard to delve into the folklore of a dybbuk, and as it mixes this in with experiments on twins in concentration camps during WW2, the story becomes too convoluted for its own good. Full Review |
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1.5/5 |
Despite some gruesome special effects, the telling of this story is so prosaic and predictable that genuine thrills are in very short supply. Full Review |
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Odette Yustman, indeed all the cast, deserve a better fate than to be sucked into this misguided attempt at horror Full Review |
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Click to read the article Full Review |
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1/5 |
The Unborn is packed full of grisly images and effects, but its apparent attempts to be some kind of Jewish take on The Exorcist fail miserably. Full Review |
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1.5/4 |
The best that can be said for Goyer's latest is that it's competent. How competent is a matter of debate, as is the degree to which Goyer is self-aware about the film's camp value. [Blu-ray] Full Review |
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1/4 |
What The Unborn represents manages to be a thousand times more disturbing than anything Goyer captured with his pen or camera Full Review |
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2/5 |
There is a senseless scare every 5-7 minutes. Now, after one or two you start to get the giggles but after the third or fourth false scare you begin to Laugh Out Loud. Full Review |
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2/4 |
...boasts few attributes designed to initially capture the viewer's interest... Full Review |
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1/5 |
The Unborn is like a scary movie sentence without the necessary linking verbs. It's all genre gears and no motivational motor. Full Review |
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The Unborn is a story that should have remained untold and will be forgotten by the end of the weekend. Full Review |
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Click to read the article Full Review |
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1.5/4 |
Full of cheap thrills that mostly consist of people popping up out of nowhere and dialogue comprised largely of theological gobbledygook. Full Review |
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3/10 |
After a few initial decent scares, the corny dialogue, poor casting and cringe-worthy acting drag this movie into it’s own hell. Utter rubbish. Full Review |
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1/5 |
Cue a creepy toddler, various demonically possessed adults and a Jewish exorcism conducted by Gary Oldman. He’s a vastly better actor than the film deserves, but he can’t make the script seem even slightly better than it is. Full Review |
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This foolish film hitches an easy ride from the Holocaust. Full Review |
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2/5 |
The Unborn isn't the worst horror film you'll see in 2009, but the prospect of a sequel (which the film teases at the finale), is probably the biggest fright in the 88 minutes. Full Review |
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2/5 |
This may dabble in Jewish mysticism and the legacy of the Nazi era but scratch the surface and you discover just another standard scary movie. Full Review |
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2/5 |
Unsatisfying, hokey and never that scary (unless you’re the type who jumps at every loud noise or sudden appearance in this sort of movie), The Unborn outstays even its brief lifespan. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for The Unborn
July 06, 2009:
RT on DVD: Knowing, Push, The Unborn Unleashed
It's a genre lover's feast this week on DVD, but don't say we didn't warn you about those pesky rotten Tomatometers. First up? Alex Proyas's latest science fiction thriller,... More...
January 19, 2009:
Though some images are on the terrifying side, this mostly outlandish tale is riddled with homicidal tots, interdenominational exorcists, and attention deficit disorder dybuks who can't make up their mystical minds which body is cool enough to inhabit. 
More...
January 09, 2009:
Though some images are on the terrifying side, this mostly outlandish tale is riddled with homicidal tots, interdenominational exorcists, and attention deficit disorder dybuks who can't make up their mystical minds which body is cool enough to inhabit.
More...
January 08, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Say "I Don't" To Bride Wars
This week at the movies, we've got a bridal battle (Bride Wars, starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson); a cranky car enthusiast (Gran Torino, directed by and starring Clint... More...
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