The Unborn
User Score
5.2 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 64 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 64
  3. Negative: 27 out of 64

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  1. WojciechM
    Apr 4, 2009
    9
    I'm really astound by the negative reception of this movie. I found it one of the most solid and meaningful horror pictures of the decade. Yes, you've heard me - meaningful. It's one of the few movies that shows the actual folklore vision of the world. Not the standard western, judeo-christian civilization, XX/XXI century view, but the actual beliefs of our ancestors, who had their good reasons to be afraid of the darkness. "Dybuk" is a important part of lore and almost nothing in the movie contradicts that lore. There were things behind the veil of reality that people believed, that made Nazis pale in comparison. They were murderers, soulless sadists and monsters, yes, but yet - they were mundane. The one thing that bugged me about "The Unborn" was the exorcism scene. It felt like someone imposed on the director to make an action scene... Apart from that, there's not a single thing about the whole movie that would contradict the folklore or the beliefs of the spiritualists. It's so strange, that movies based on a bit more exotic folklore - like Japanese for instance - are far more acclaimed than the movie based on Jewish lore.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
30 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 10 out of 16
  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Pinkerton
    50
    For as long as it forges ahead without explanations, The Unborn works, in its way, as a series of snap-cut gotchas introducing each new contestant in its pageant of cold-sweat set pieces.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    40
    Whereas Japanese horror movies have been criticized for not making sense, The Unborn errs on the opposite extreme, coming off all the more ridiculous for over-explaining itself.
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  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    40
    What "The Exorcist" might look like if Madonna rewrote it, this silly fright flick finds college student Casey (Odette Yustman) haunted by a Kabbalistic demon.
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