Metascore

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 16 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 64 Ratings

  • Starring: Cam Gigandet, Gary Oldman, Odette Yustman
  • Summary: Casey Bell hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, Casey begins to understand why she left. Plagued by merciless dreams and a tortured ghost that haunts her waking hours, she must turn to the only spiritual advisor, Sendak, who can make it stop. With Sendak's help, Casey uncovers the source of a family curse dating back to Nazi Germany—a creature with the ability to inhabit anyone or anything that is getting stronger with each possession. With the curse unleashed, her only chance at survival is to shut a doorway from beyond our world that has been pried open by someone who was never born. (Universal Pictures)
    Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 16
  2. Negative: 10 out of 16
  1. Reviewed by: Clark Collis
    67
    Indeed, Goyer has penned many scripts superior to this one (he co-wrote cult gem Dark City), but he does make sure you're never far away from a big "Boo!"
  2. 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.
  3. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    A laughably bad horror flick.
  4. This material is offensive. The film may end with a straight-faced reassurance that "no actual Torah scrolls were destroyed or damaged in the making of this motion picture," but it's perfectly willing to exploit the Holocaust for cheap, weak thrills.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 10
  2. Negative: 6 out of 10
  1. WojciechM
    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
  2. EmT
    8
    LOVED IT!! Scared me senseless and that is exactly what it is meant to do. If you love a good horror and something to jump into the person�39;s lap next to you in the theater, this is perfect! Expand
  3. The simulacrum created in the film is not bad. The exposition of the film tries to confuse audience or make the story looks more complicated, but at the end of the film it shows a poor resolution without proper linkage to the start. Collapse
  4. Laurens
    1
    DId you know that most of the time, the titles alone either make the movie appear to be "Good" or "Horrible." Well, the Unborn, no surpise, is not the biggest bomb of all time, but i think a Razzie should be in favor of this poorly recieved, awful downright stupid movie. Wny? Well, i don't know, horror movies, some of them today, are so meaningless it seems, {i love Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd} and this is like a sequel to the Exorcist. Only, this time, it wasn't scary in the effects, and people just got bored watching it. For one thing, having a dead "baby" brother haunt you, is so unrealistic, and if it's horror, isn't it suppose to scare us? It's more likely to scare us to NOT see these low budget sleepers, with that said, don't waste your time. Expand

See all 10 User Reviews

Trailers