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Like most people, I went to attend a screening of THE UNBORN with overpriced food and trigger-happy scorn on hand. The last 47 horror films that we were fed by Hollywood made us wish for a fate usually reserved for the onscreen victims. Thus, people went, people watched and sure enough, people left complaining. But still sitting in the dark, shocked and still sucking on the remainder of his 4 gallons of Pepsi, was yours truly. Something had happened and I’m not sure what. But I think I liked it.
The story itself is something that you may have heard before, perhaps even laughed at: a young damsel, barely past her teens, has visions of a ghostly boy, in various forms and poses, who reminds her that “Jumby” wants to be born. Are you hooked yet? Further along, the lady learns that she once had a twin brother who passed away while still in utero and that lil’ bro was affectionately nick-named by her parents (you’re never going to believe this!) Jumby! Ta-Dah!! Who would have thought, right?
But hold on. What was somewhat strange and wholly unexpected was that the kid actually freaked the hell out of me. Also, the cast could act. And I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Contrary to my original “this-is-gonna-suck” stance going in to the movie, the movie really didn’t suck. Let me break it down.
1) The Good: the cast (comprised mostly of somewhat-known actors, notably Odette Yustman and Meagan Good) actually turned out decent performances. I would have to state however, that the true show-stoppers here are the special effects. The mood was tense for most of the movie and the sequences that aimed for an audience reaction usually got it. If you are the type with a vivid imagination and possibly a fear of the dark, you might find that “Jumby” and his bag of tricks will send shivers down your spine.
2) The Bad: Much to my surprise and dismay, I have very little to say here except for one thing that bugged me: the movie starts off in what appears to be winter, as the sole colour to be found outside is white. Yet somehow, in a later scene, there is next to no snow. And in the final scene there is none at all. Either global warming slapped them hard or somebody forgot how to spell c-o-n-t-i-n-u-i-t-y. A small detail you might say, but it was enough to annoy me. Also, I hate Cam Gigandet so he annoyed me a little.
The only other thing I can really dis is that the man, the myth, the legend, Gary Oldman, has approximately only 6 minutes of screen time in the whole damn thing. The greatest thing about Oldman is that no movie is too important or too meaningless, no role too grand or too small. He will do them all. You will watch the best movie of your life and never even know he was in it. Part of the reason he is always working is that he is (at least by my estimation) the greatest actor that’s ever lived and that he will seemingly never pass on a role. He may be humble. Or he might just be greedy. Either way, a little more of Oldman’s magic could have been used here.
All in all, this is an interesting movie that’s worth a watch. If nothing else, it will remind you that there is still some creativity out there, albeit not too close to Hollywood. Turn a deaf ear to all those nay-sayers who you will hear smiting this movie, and smile to yourself knowing they probably enjoyed Scream 2.
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