The Unborn (Movie Review)

David Goyer (Co-writer of Batman Begins and director of Blade:Trinity) serves as writer and director of this movie about a girl being haunted by an evil spirit.

The trailer for this film is what brought me to the theater. It's a shame that the best parts of this movie were in that trailer.

Based on the previews for this film, I assumed I was heading into something akin to "The Ring". Creepy images covered the trailer from front to back. But when I sat down to watch the film, I soon realized that the majority of this film would have an entirely different feel to it, and was made for a different audience as well.

The lead character, Casey, is played by Odette Yustman. From the moment she first appeared on screen, a small part of me sighed and though, "I don't think this girl was hired for her acting chops." Two underwear and one shower scene later, I was all too familiar with the kind of movie I was looking at. Performances from the supporting cast confirmed my suspicions. I was watching a teen thriller. (Ugh.)

Granted, the lead characters were early college age, but almost every other element smelled of the "yawn and stretch" date-night maneuver. The characters were without substance, conforming to stereo-types. The dialogue took me very quickly out of any potentially creepy mood set by the rest of the film.

I will say that the creature effects were wonderful. The bizarre collection of images (most of which are seen in the trailer) include and old man crawling around in a hospital gown with his head on backwards. A little boy with a very large mouth, who looks like he's been decomposing for awhile, and a dog wearing a human mask and another growling dog with his head on upside down. Very unsettling stuff. Although I found them more unsettling outside of the movie's context, when i wasn't aware of the shallow characters and ideas the movie is built on.

One gripe I have revolves around some of the basic doctrine of the film. Although it draws chiefly from Jewish Mysticism, a welcome change from the usual Catholic backdrop of these films, it takes the "all religions are the same" approach near the end, putting the real power not in any god, but in the "belief" of those who may worship him.

The use of a shofar and Psalm 91 in an exorcism near the end of the film is also very odd. The shofar was used as a communication device in battle and as a celebratory announcement for Jewish festivals. It had a few other uses as well, but the way they film it and speak of it in "The Unborn" looks like a strange attempt at giving it mystical powers. And while Psalm 91 is a song reminding us of God's love and protection, its use in the film was also overly mystified, as though it were a magic spell.

The Rabbi, played by a "phoning it in" Gary Oldman, at one point in the film tells Casey that an exorcism doesn't work unless those involved believe in the "power" they are calling on, and that she doesn't really believe. (Casey never denied her unbelief, either.) Then, just before the exorcism, he changes his tune and says that the faith of Casey's mother and grandmother will be what does the trick.

But there really was no clearly defined source of good in this movie. The Rabbi said that he himself was a "man of God, but not a miracle worker", so he gets his episcopal priest buddy to bring some Christianity to the ceremony. Huh? Casey says she doesn't want a Christian exorcism, to which the priest responds by telling her that the evil spirit, if it's real, probably pre-dates religion, and that most exorcisms contain the same basic elements regardless of which religion they come from.

So my question is, if neither the Priest nor Rabbi really believe that what they believe is really real, why are they in their chosen professions and giving other people spiritual advice?
I suppose if you're coming from an agnostic or relativistic viewpoint, where logic doesn't really come into play, you can just roll with this stuff. But I have trouble with it. It certainly isn't that it offends me. I'd just like some consistency in whatever fictional spiritual world-view is being presented.

I mean, if all religions have the same basic "exorcism powers", why didn't they just tell Casey, "Look kiddo. It doesn't matter what you believe. Just make up some religion and a prayer that you can say over and over again. That oughtta get rid of those pesky spirits."

In the end, the film got a lot wrong in the philosophy department, but as a result of its failed attempt, it leaves room for discussion about truth.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images, thematic material and language including some sexual references

Quality: 7.0/10
Relevance: 7.5/10