Oh, The Horror #19: The Unborn

Now this movie I was semi-excited for. You can tell given that I put that trailer of it on this blog not too long ago. I saw the trailer and I saw it as a movie that would probably attempt to go back to the roots of the type of horror movie I enjoy watching. One of my best buds, Nadia, ended up getting free advance tickets and saw it as a proper birthday present for me so we went to go see it on Tuesday. As soon as the movie starts you're taken into the plot and it hardly lets go as the horror goes and goes. The special effects were great, scares and shocks were damn well done, but the story was "eh." Now, as stated before, I felt it seem like a movie that was attempting to recapture the charm of old school horror and when you watch the movie you see that, but it falls rather short in trying to achieve it. The story just isn't completely there. It seems incomplete and very simple and just... there. The plot-slash-premise were very damn interesting and the back-story were very attention grabbing along with the constant scares but there was just something missing.

The story is about a girl named Casey Beldon, played by Odette Yustman, who gets haunted by dreams and strange events in reality by an evil spirit revealed as the Dybbuk. Along with her best friend, Romey, played by sexy Meagan Good who also serves as a bit of a comic relief, tries to uncover the mysteries behind why Casey is the one experiencing all of this. She begins to learn about her family past which connects to Nazi geneticists and demons attempting to come into our world by possessing people and hoping to completely get into the world by being reborn as a deceased twin that was killed in the womb. We find out that Casey's grandmother had to kill her brother when he got possessed and also Casey's mother, played by Carla Gugino, had to also deal with this demonic entity which left her in an asylum and led her to commit suicide. So now it is Casey who is now next and it's up to her to stop it. She seeks help from a rabbi played by Gary Oldman who at first isn't too willing to help Casey due to her lack of faith but then becomes very determined to rid of this demon. She also has a Christian priest who comes to help her, played by Idris Elba, and her boyfriend. Let me not forget we have sexy Meagan Good who is determined to stick by and help her best friend despite all the warnings she gets. Mmm... Meagan. But anywho!

This movie also has something that I always shake my head and have to wonder why do people do that. Why is it that every time a character hears something weird they have to slowly... and slowly... walk... towards the noise... to see what it is? And this happens in the movie many damn times too. It's like the main character doesn't learn. She's experiencing all this weird crap, stop walking towards something suspicious. If you hear some weird noise on the other side of the wall, leave the damn room! Ugh! And there's also a part of the end of the movie that got me and my friend Nadia saying, "Oh, you a stupid bi-- um.. girl!" It's something that really got me annoyed but that cliffhanger I guess you can say you could see coming and is a staple of horror films. I won't spoil it for those interested in seeing this.

As stated, the effects and shocks are good. Damn good, in fact. But if that's what you want to see in a horror film, it'll appeal to you. One specific scene I loved was when Casey goes to visit her mother. The effects of that scene was fantastic and a few scenes that include bugs haunting Casey. But if you want a good solid story, this movie probably won't do much for you. If anything, I'd say wait for the DVD or till it premieres on cable. Despite me not caring much for the movie, I'm glad to see the attempt of trying to explore the supernatural old school elements of horror that I feel is missing nowadays. Directed by David S. Goyer who's written works are usually damn good to watch as they're directed by other folks but seem to fall short when he's on the directing seat. So take that as you will.