The Unborn

When I first saw the trailer for The Unborn about a month ago my first thought was "damn, it looks pretty freakin good!", and that surprised me since this movie is produced by Michael Bay (we all know that is a synonym for crappy movie). Therefore, when I went to the movies last saturday to see the baby my expectations were pretty high...and I have to say that sadly The Unborn actually lives to the Michael-Bay-produced standards!
Now to give the piece the justice it deserves I have to say that I still enjoyed it a bit. There were a few good points that saved the boat and caught my attention in a good way.
But first thing first here's a quick synopsis to get you guys in the context:
The Unborn draws upon the legend of a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that refuses to leave the human world and inhabits the body of a person. Protagonist Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) is plagued by merciless dreams, visions of strange looking dogs, and an evil child with bright blue eyes. After being hit with a mirror by her neighbor's son, Casey's eyes begin to change color and she learns she had a twin brother who died in the womb. Casey begins to suspect that the spirit haunting her is the soul of her dead twin, being possessed by a dybbuk, wanting to be born so it can transfer to the world of the living.
The Pros:
-Although the whole "evil possession" theme is nothing new and might seem boring at first glance, The Unborn has the bright idea of examinating and situating it through Judaism (and more specifically Kabbalah)offering us a new kind of haunting spirit and a different approach on the exorcism performed during the movie (no " The power of the Christ compels you" here...I know some of you will get the reference).
- Gary Oldman who plays a rabbi....we wonder WHYYYY he is in this movie but we're thankful for that!
-Some creatures/possessed ones visual effects were pretty tricky and well done...my fav one probably was the old guy.
The Cons:
-Odette Yustman walks REALLY close to the mediocre actress line!! She's not convincing in her role, sometimes you can tell she's "reciting a book" and the only moment she's quite decent is during the exorcism scene. So what did the director do? He included plenty of shots where Odette aka Casey is seen wearing nothin but panties and a tank top....trying to make the bitter pill that is her acting easier to swallow....but guess what?that didn't work!..at least not if you've passed your 17 yrs old hormonal rush!
- The scenario has flaws, especially in its way to present the Judaist implication of the story. Not to mention the Kabbalah references that are not further explained...not everybody knows what the red bracelet signifies. Casey's faith also seems to pop out of the blue at some point of the movie...yes being tracked down by an evil spirit would wake pretty much anybody's faith but why not earlier in the movie then and why induce it and not show it?!
Conclusion: The Unborn knows how to pull the teenagers screaming strings and it is an entertaining moment but do not expect anything else from it as it's as septicised as any horror movie coming out of the Hollywood machinery these days.

My note: 6 out of 10