Blu-ray Review: The Unborn (Unrated)

Release Date: July 7th, 2009
Running Time: 89 minutes

The Film

I remember when both The Unborn and The Uninvited hit theaters within weeks of each other and bearing strangely similar titles. The Uninvited had an incomprehensible trailer while The Unborn seemed legitimately scary, but each failed to make a major mark in the box office. Having now seen both films I can say that I was surprised at the quality of The Uninvited and completely disappointed with The Unborn. Lacking an interesting plot, real scares, or any substance on the Blu-ray disc, The Unborn is one of the weaker horror films I have seen in some time.

The film stars Odette Yustman as Casey Beldon–a 20something that begins to have nightmares involving an evil little boy with piercing blue eyes and a dog with a freaky mask. Soon after the nightmares begin Casey has an odd experience while babysitting where the young boy attacks her with a mirror. Afterwards she notices her eyes changing color and promptly sees a doctor. Casey finds out that she had a twin brother who died in the womb and may be the source of her nightmares. Casey continues to have horrible visions that get more vivid with each occurrence. Something is after her, and it will not stop.

STORY SPOILERS BELOW

Her mother had similar troubles and eventually committed suicide. In her mother’s old belongings Casey finds an article about a woman named Sofi (Jane Alexander). Casey visits Sofi in a mental institution only to find out that Sofi is her grandmother. During the holocaust Sofi’s twin brother was killed and then possessed by a dybbuk—an evil spirit wanting to return to the world of the living. Sofi killed her resurrected brother and ever since the dybbuk has been attacking her family. Believing the dybbuk to be inside her, Casey seeks out the help of Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman) to perform a Jewish exorcism and put an end to the vicious cycle.

END SPOILERS

The Unborn is wholly forgettable. Outside of the unique aspect of basing it on Jewish mythology, everything about the film is stock. None of the scares bring anything new to the table. Scary mirrors, creepy noises, things jumping out at you, mental institutions—it’s all been done before, and done far better. Due to borrowing from so many other horror films, the result is a mixture of Asian ghost-scares and blatant Exorcist rip-offs told through a dull, slow pace. The writing is far too stock and corny; throwing constant exposition at you that dwindles away at any real tension. In fact, there were literally only three moments that I somewhat enjoyed: the genuinely eerie stair walk scene; the upside down dog; and the action moments in the final ten minutes. If the rest of the film had the pace and threat of the end sequence it could have made for a far more entertaining film.

The Disc

The video is presented in a 2.40:1, 1080p High Definition transfer. It retains the polished look that Platinum Dunes’ horror films are known for, but I can’t say the sharpness helps the weak makeup effects. The image has a dreary style that is heavy on blues and grays so don’t expect much vibrancy. Black levels are strong with average shadow detail. Fine detail is excellent in close ups but the dark nature of the film doesn’t lend itself to much depth in the wide shots. Video noise and print errors are nonexistent, and compression artifacts are few and far between. The transfer is perfectly acceptable but won’t change your opinion of the film one way or another.

The audio is offered in an English DTS HD 5.1 Master lossless audio track as well as English/French/French (Canada)/German DTS 5.1 Surround Sound with English/French/French (Canada)/German subtitles. This is a by-the-books horror mix that accentuates the “jump” moments and provides the prerequisite eerie atmosphere. While nothing is unique or outstanding about the mix, it is still effective. It is a bit front-heavy, but the creepy noises are well placed across the soundstage, and the atmospheric effects that do make it to the rear channels are fine. The dynamic range features deep bass thumps and crisp high ends shrieks. Coupled with balanced dialogue, the audio mix mirrors the video transfer in that it is good, but not outstanding.

The Extras

The selection of special features is dismal. The “Theatrical” and “Unrated” cuts are both on the disc, but I only watched the “Unrated” cut that is apparently 1 minute longer.

7 minutes of Deleted Scenes marks the only true extra content and none of it is enough to sway your opinion or fix problems you may have had with the story.

Lastly, BD-Live allows you to bookmark scenes.

Final Thoughts

The Unborn: Unrated was a major disappointment for me because it simply was not scary—a travesty for a horror film. With a practically bare-bones Blu-ray disc, it’s hard for me to recommend this title in any capacity.