The Unborn
Rogue Pictures | Release Date: January 9, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
3
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis
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!" Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
I enjoyed the visual effects used to create some hellish creatures and the amusing nods to "The Exorcist" - cranial rotation, even a spooky staircase. But the movie slips in the last act. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineJason Buchanan
What more could a horror fan ask for than a spook-fest that feels pure in its intentions while taking full advantage of every opportunity to scare us silly? Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
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. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter Debruge
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. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
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. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
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. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A laughably bad horror flick. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesGlenn Whipp
Mostly, though, the movie is something of a snooze, a gabby PG-13 horror flick whose most shocking image might be the bored look on Gary Oldman's face as he goes through the motions of playing the rabbi in charge of dispatching the film's damnable demon to somewhere over hell's rainbow. Read full review
30
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The film teeters so perilously and routinely at the edge of camp, both with some of its casting choices and some unfortunate dialogue (the repeated warning that "Jumby wants to be born now"), that it's hard to know if Mr. Goyer wants to make us howl with fear or laughter. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
What finally undoes the struggle to maintain suspense is Goyer's dialogue, which is consistently hokey. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Maybe approaching The Unborn as horror is the wrong approach. Perhaps this should be seen as a comedy. It is quite possibly the most egregiously laughable high-profile supernatural tale since Roman Polanski and Johnny Depp impaled themselves on "The Ninth Gate." Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
What darkness the movie achieves comes solely from the lighting. Read full review
20
Film ThreatMichael Ferraro
This is the sort of film that fails on every single aspect it aims for. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Calling The Unborn a dull, plodding, exposition-crammed slog through a twilight of barely maintained tedium is like calling "Valkyrie" a yawn. It's too easy. Read full review
12
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The Unborn joins a growing glut of Holocaust- and Nazi-themed material -- "Valkyrie," "Defiance" - that are long on posturing, suppositions, and righteousness, yet short on moral complexity. Nazism and its crimes have lately inspired theme parks more than actual movies. Too many rides on that roller coaster and I feel sick. Read full review
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