"The Unborn excels in creepy imagery, but lacks direction overall."

For a horror movie that's as mindless as The Unborn, it's a surprisingly complicated film to explain. Out of the blue, super hot Casey (Odette Yustman) becomes haunted by a creepy little kid and dogs wearing people-masks with their heads on upside down. She also discovers that she was once a twin (the other twin died in utero), and (guess what) the unborn twin is now pissed off and (you guessed it) wants to be born. To rid herself of this curse, Casey seeks the help of a Rabbi (Gary Oldman) to perform not just an exorcism, but a Jewish exorcism.

Thus begins the enigma of The Unborn, an exorcism movie that's ballsy and different, yet similar to a number of different horror flicks minus one key component: scariness. But where it lacked in scariness, The Unborn excelled in creepiness, specifically in its use of creepy little kids. There's something about little kids in horror movies that's creepy, and The Unborn exploits this truth to the tenth power. Do you remember that creepy kid from Pet Sematary? Take that kid plus a few other kids and you have the creepy kid factor of The Unborn.

Beyond creepiness, The Unborn is also rich in bizarre visuals, which is coincidentally the only other area the film succeeds in. Besides unborn fetuses in glass jars, dogs running around with their heads twisted upside down, and creepy kids, there's a thing crawling around like something out of The Thing or The Grudge, public restrooms barfing millions of nasty bugs (both big and small), and baby chicken fetuses. If you're looking for a horror flick full of gut-wrenching visuals (of the PG-13 variety), then The Unborn may just be your ticket.

What I also dug about the film was its original take on twins mythology and possession. It seems like the majority of horror flicks these days are carbon copies of themselves, so having a somewhat original take (Jewish exorcism) was refreshing. On the other hand, the overall film almost felt like a montage of a bunch of different movies, taking elements from the before mentioned The Thing, The Grudge, and Pet Sematary, as well as other scare flicks like A Nightmare on Elm St. and The Exorcist.

However, where The Unborn excelled in creepy and bizarre imagery, it lacked in cohesiveness and direction. Many of the scenes felt chopped together and out of place, the pacing was way off, and the camera wasted time lingering on exteriors without spending time with the actual characters themselves. Oh, and did I mention that it was silly? Not slapstick silly, as it was definitely going for scares, but just silly in the B horror movie kind of way. Over-acting, cheesy dialogue, and random stuff jumping out at you at just the right time.

Writer and director David S. Goyer has written some impressive films over the years, most notably The Dark Knight. That said, he doesn't seem to possess that same knack for directing, as The Unborn is on par with his previous effort, the so-so Blade: Trinity. After this second strike, the guy should stick to writing comic-book movies and stay away from directing. He has talent to deliver the visuals, but not the ability to deliver tension or true scares (and no, Boo-scares don't count).

Probably the biggest surprise was star Odette Yustman, who we first met last January in Cloverfield. Keep your eye on this starlet, as she has the acting chops and the charisma to carry a movie like this on her shoulders, not to mention the looks that should give Megan Fox a run for her money. A little overly dramatic at times, all is forgiven by her likable personality and good looks. Let's just say, she does for underwear what Jessica Biel did for tank tops in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The Unborn was not a scary movie, but it was entertaining. It's the kind of movie you don't have to think about too hard to enjoy ... or rather, if you think about it (like, at all), you likely won't enjoy it. The creepiness level was high, the bizarre imagery was thick, and it bled originality. At the same time, The Unborn stole too much from other movies, lacked direction, and came off silly rather than scary. If you're looking to get lost in a mindless horror flick, you could do a lot worse than The Unborn.

Grade: C

Ammon Gilbert covers the latest in horror news every week for Film.com.

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