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Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, James Remar ... see more see more... , Jane Alexander , Idris Elba , Atticus Shaffer , Michael Sassone , Ethan Cutkosky , Rhys Coiro , Carla Gugino , C.S. Lee , Gene Fojtik

Blade II and Batman Begins scribe David S. Goyer writes and directs this supernatural thriller about a 19-year-old girl (Odette Yustman) haunted by a "dybbuk" (a malevolent wandering soul of Jewish fo... read more read more...lklore) that was once a young boy ruthlessly slaughtered in Auschwitz. Casey Beldon (Yustman) was just a young girl when her mother vanished out of her life. And though Casey has never forgiven her mother for abandoning their family, she begins to understand why when a tortured ghost begins stalking her by day, and horrific nightmares make her scared of falling asleep at night. Hoping that her spiritual advisor, Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman), possesses the power to make these awful visions stop, Casey enlists his aid and gradually uncovers a family curse that stretches all the way back to Nazi Germany. An entity with the ability to possess anyone or anything that it comes into contact with is stalking Casey from another plane of reality, and it's gaining strength with each new possession. Now, as the curse is unleashed, the frightened girl realizes that her only chance for survival is to close a door that was pried open by someone who was never born, and prevent the force from crossing over into the physical world. Though her sympathetic boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) and best friend (Meagan Good) do everything they can to help, Casey is ultimately left to face this otherworldly horror on her own. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

39% liked it

810,160 ratings

Critics

12% liked it

113 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: David S. Goyer

Release Date: January 9, 2009

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DVD Release Date: July 7, 2009

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Stats: 22,797 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (22,797)

  • romy861
    July 2, 2011
    romy861
    Yep, this one is pretty much a mess. I caught it on TV, so as I didn't pay any money to see it, I am probably inclined to be a little more generous than it deserves.
    A plot you could see coming a mile off. I mean, seriously, if you had a creepy ass kid telling you some devil ch... read moreild wants "to be born now", and multiple other scary going ons, you would think at very least you would abstain from sex with your boyfriend! Apparently not...
    There is a few scares and some yucky scenes, but it is pretty lame and tame stuff. Also, I don't know if it was the TV transmission or what, but the end scene seemed sped up, which made me feel like I was watching a video game instead of a movie!
    If you just want some dumb entertainment or a laugh, this is okay, but there is definitely much better horror films out there.
  • murphmann93
    June 24, 2011
    murphmann93
    It was really bad - scary in some scenes. But Cam Gigadet gave this a full star.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    January 27, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    The Unborn has gotten a bad reputation in the Horror community. The film a decent entry in the Horror genre, but is definitely not the best. The film has some pretty good scares and the plot has enough decent elements to make this an average horror film. The film could have been... read more a lot better, but taking inton account that this is a PG-13 film, this is fairly good entertainment.
    The Unborn is not a perfect film of course, but it's good enough compared to all those lame remakes that are coming out. This may not be too original, but the jolts are plentiful, and your most likely going to jump out of your seat a few times. Obviously one of the reasons that the film got such a bad rep is because of the fact that Michael Bay produced it. Even if he did, this one of the better horror films that he produced. The Unborn is good/ average entertainment, and is a type of horror film that shouldn't be dismissed too quickly. The biggest problem I had with the film is that I felt it rehashed a few old ideas explored in other horror films before it, and that some of the characters were not likeable. But it delivers a few good scares, and it deserves a little better praise than it originally had. Considering all the crap remakes, The Unborn isn't that bad. I found the film quite entertaining, even though not too good or original.
  • CloudStrife84
    January 17, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Clichéd, but not bad altogether. I thought the gorgeous Megan Fox was starring in this, but as it turned out it was just a look-a-like by the name of Odette Yustman. And while she's a rather bland actress, at least the cast had some good actors like Gary Oldman, James Remar and C... read more.S. Lee (the two latter which I'm familiar with through one of my favourite TV shows, Dexter). Pretty interesting plot as well, with an abundance of scenes that will have you jumping out of your seat. Some of its fright elements are quite bizarre, which occationally made it a little creepier than your average horror movie. There's just something about a dog wearing a human mask with no eyes that really disturbs my inner peace.
  • ythelastman89
    August 19, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Aside from Odette Yustman looking like an identical twin to Megan Fox, there's really nothing interesting about this at all. It's like a Jewish version of The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby combined, only it's nothing close to either in terms of film making, acting, or writing. The... read more characters act in ridiculous fashions, the plot makes no sense and the ending is complete blasphemy. David S. Goyer either hits a home run or creates a bomb, this is definitely a bomb.
  • MissMorganLeee
    August 5, 2010
    MissMorganLeee
    Well I was actually in the mood to see a crapy horror movie and I actually enjoyed this! Terrible movie but fun to watch (if you were in the mood as I happened to be)
  • theylovealexis
    July 27, 2010
    theylovealexis
    I'm giving it one star because I was able to make fun of it through the entire thing.
    It was awful. Completely predictable and not the least bit scary, startle-y, creepy or gross. It's the story of an evil demon named Jumby (not Jambi from Pee Wee's Playhouse) harassing a poor g... read moreirl who's dad goes out of town at just the right time. This demon has no motive, but he must be exorcised by Gary Oldman (I don't know why he agreed to be in this filth)! Laaaaaame!
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    July 21, 2010
    bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    theres only one good thing about this movie which is we get to see the lead actress in her underwear in a couple scenes. the movie is boring. there are a few decent scenes but not many. C-
  • arashxak
    June 24, 2010
    arashxak
    Almost works as a comedy, The script is hilariously dumb, The main character & her stupid friend are annoying as hell, The actresses(!!??) who play them give terrible perfs and the climax is as shitty as other parts of the film, The only scary thing about The Unborn is seeing Old... read moreman in it
  • MizturY0da
    April 8, 2010
    MizturY0da
    While babysitting a boy and his baby brother, Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) has a dreadful nightmare with a weird dog and an evil child, and she tells her best friend Romy (Meagan Gold) by phone. The boy unexpectedly hits her face with a mirror, and one iris changes the color. Al... read moreong the days, Casey is haunted by a fiend of a boy, and when she goes to the ophthalmologist, he asks if she has a twin brother or sister. She asks her father and discovers that her mother lost a son that died in the womb. Casey suspects that she is haunted by the spirit of her brother and finds a letter addressed to a woman called Sofi Kozma (Jane Alexander) and a creepy picture at home that belonged to her mother. She goes with Romy to a retirement home to meet Sofi, who survived to experiments in the Holocaust. Sofi tells that she had never met Casey's mother, but later she calls Casey and tells that she is her grandmother and Casey is in danger. Further, she explains that the fiend dybbuk is after her trying to be born again and stay in the world of the living. Casey questions why the evil spirit has appeared after so many years and seeks out Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman) to perform a Jewish exorcism on her to get rid of the dybbuk.

    "The Unborn" is an underrated horror movie that has flaws and clichés, but also startles with scary scenes. The plot is a compilation of many horrors movie like "The Omen", or "The Exorcist" or many Asian horror movies and gave me the sensation that I had already seen "The Unborn". When Romy is murdered, the viewer does not hear the statement of Casey and her boyfriend to the police officer, and I believe it would be very difficult to explain what happened with the stabbed young woman and broken window. How to explain the several deaths during the exorcism? But the special effects and the conclusion are good. Despite of the flaws, I liked this movie. My vote is seven.

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Critic Reviews

Cliff Doerksen
January 5, 2010
Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader

[An] exuberantly creepy mash-up of Jewish folklore, J-horror atmospherics, and demonic possession boilerplate. Full Review

Clark Collis
January 14, 2009
Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly

Goyer has penned many scripts superior to this one, but he does make sure you're never far away from a big 'Boo!' Full Review

Michael Phillips
January 9, 2009
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Filmed in Chicago but universal in its lameness...The Unborn is the story of a dybbuk who makes trouble for the skinny North Shore college girl played by Odette Yustman, who's always out jogging when ... Full Review

Claudia Puig
January 9, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

A laughably bad horror flick involving demonic possession, concentration camps and torturous genetic experiments. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 9, 2009
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

This is where many a horror movie falls and never again rises: too much exposition. Full Review

Roger Moore
January 9, 2009
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

The movie's not very good, but there are ideas, good and bad, in its execution that are worth mulling over. Full Review

Peter Debruge
January 9, 2009
Peter Debruge, Variety

Before long, the connective tissue between scares starts to call attention to its own preposterousness. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
January 9, 2009
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Unless we trudge up the aisle prematurely, we're stuck there, with nothing to do but count Oldman's changing accents or mourn that this is the best gig actresses like Alexander or Gugino can get. Full Review

Kyle Smith
January 9, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The Unborn is a baby-sitter horror flick (it's for and about them) with classic creep-out elements that unite in a surprisingly engrossing story. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
January 9, 2009
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

At least writer/director David S. Goyer had the sense to boost these generic proceedings with pros like Alexander, Oldman, Elba and Carla Gugino, who plays Casey's mother in a series of embarrassing f... Full Review

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The Unborn Trivia

  • This director had his wife and unborn child murdered by the Manson Family.  Answer »
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