Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 89 mins  – 2009 – Unrated – 1080p Widescreen 2.40: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1

There are bad horror films, and then there are really bad horror films. Depending on your taste, The Unborn will fall in either one of those two spots, because unless you’ve just taken some form of illegal substance, there’s no way you will consider this film to be good. For the past few years American made horror films have been horrible, and even the worst Asian horror movie is more superior. If you’re just desperate to watch something in the horror genre, The Unborn is available on Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. But you’ve been warned.

MOVIE

The simple plot revolves around Casey (Odette Yustman), a woman who keeps having nightmares about a creepy little boy and a dog. Things get creepier for Casey when one of her eyes begins to change colors and her ophthalmologist asks her if she has a twin brother, even though she is an only child. Casey gets her father to confess that she did have a twin brother, but he died at birth. Casey believes that her unborn brother is haunting her, and her only hope is Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman), who is basically playing the ‘exorcist,’ and uses his faith to banish the unborn child from this world.

This film was written and directed by David S. Goyer, who believe it or not also wrote the storyline for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. So what the hell happened? You would expect something better than this mess from a guy who has such and impressive thing on their resume. The movie is as scary as an episode of Scooby Doo, the acting is lame, (including Gary Oldman who is one of the best actors out there), and the lead character is so dull and that you really won’t care if she lives or dies. Basically this film looks like it was based on someone seeing the edited TV version of the Exorcist with all the good parts toned down and commercials for the Sham-Wow in-between. 

American made horror movies are in trouble right now because they’ve drained the Asian rip-off well dry and now all they’re stuck with is bad ideas. You know somewhere in some producer’s office there are twenty great original horror scripts being used to hold up his espresso maker. So why did this one get made? Because the guy who wrote Batman was involved, that’s why. Do yourself a favor and skip this one, but if you do rent it, make sure you rent a better film along with it so you won’t feel like 89 minutes of your life has just been snatched away.

VIDEO

The Unborn is a bad movie, but thanks to the power of Blu-ray, at least it looks good. In full 1080p with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the film’s displays nice textures and skin tones, and the creepy dark atmosphere stands out. Colors are purposely muted, but still manage to jump out at you. Grain is an issue is some of the dark interior scenes, but overall it’s a solid transfer.

AUDIO

Like all horror films, sound is extremely important, so what The Unborn lacks in story it makes up for in audio. Offering a Dolby Digital DTS 5.1 sound track, every bump in the night is effectively done to make you jump. Dialogue is crisp and background sound effects are blended well. Sound enthusiasts should be pleased.

EXTRAS

Maybe Universal knew they had a bad film on their hands, which is why they really didn’t put any effort in packing any good bonus features onto the disc. The film displays the “Urated” version on the front of the case, but we’re talking one minute longer than the theatrical PG-13 version. Yawwwnnn!

There are six deleted/extended scenes that are barely worth watching, and that’s about it. Director/writer David S. Goyer didn’t even bother to do an audio commentary track, because it would take a lot of explaining to make sense of this waste of time.

BOTTOM LINE

If you love horror films, don’t bother with The Unborn because there’s nothing to see that you haven’t already seen done better before. The Blu-ray offers good picture and sound quality, but it doesn’t matter because you’re still watching a mediocre horror flick. If you’re desperate give it a rent, but it’s not worth your hard earned dollar. 

SCORES: (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 1.5

Bottom Line: 2.5