30
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithI 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.
- 63TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineWhat 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?
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceFor 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.
- 40VarietyVarietyWhereas 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.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanWhat "The Exorcist" might look like if Madonna rewrote it, this silly fright flick finds college student Casey (Odette Yustman) haunted by a Kabbalistic demon.
- 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.
- 30The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThe 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.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttWhat finally undoes the struggle to maintain suspense is Goyer's dialogue, which is consistently hokey.
- 25ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliMaybe 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."
- 25The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsWhat darkness the movie achieves comes solely from the lighting.