The Unborn (2009)

Poorly conceived (pun intended) supernatural-horror film that is only watchable because of Odette Ystman (not for her acting so much). Gary Oldman is only in this for maybe 20 minutes although gets above title billing; I assume he did this partially as a favor to writer-director David S. Goyer who co-scripted Batman Begins a few years earlier. Idris Elba also has a small role but only 5-10 minutes of screen time himself.

This is one that's been sitting on my shelf for several years, now I know why I've been avoiding watching... 1.5/5

Overall : When it comes to lower-budget horror movies, The Unborn is a pretty solid addition.

Part of why I enjoyed this movie as much as I did probably had more to do with laughing at my friends who freaked out in the theater than the actual movie itself. But with that being said, the movie is pretty good too! The Unborn has a better cast than a typical horror flick with Gary Oldman and Idris Elba, along with solid performances from Odette Annable and Meagan Good. The quality of the cinematography, editing, and effects would suggest a bigger budget than it actually had. Scare after scare parades through the film. You can feel the influence of producer Michael Bay (Transformers, Bad Boys) in this film and David S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity), which I consider a positive, whereas others probably would not. Some reviews complain about The Unborn's poor character development, but this is a horror movie. Horror isn't a genre known for its well-developed characters. The Unborn is probably not as good as I rated it, but it has great jump scares, good production quality, and a solid cast. What more do you want in a low-budget horror movie?