Unborn

I recently watched the Tubi Original, Unborn (2022). The storyline revolves around an expecting mother who becomes troubled when she believes she sees her deceased mother in the background during her sonograms. She starts to suspect her unborn baby might be possessed and seeks help, while her partner is left unsure of how to react.

Directed by Steven R. Monroe (I Spit on Your Grave) and starring Jade Harlow (Cowboy Bebop), Ella A. Thomas (Desperation Road), Rich Ting (Lone Survivor), Gigi Bermingham (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and James Achille (The Root of Perfection).

This movie falls short of expectations, with only one or two well-executed horror scenes. It has a distinct made-for-television feel. Both the writing and acting are subpar, with performances that sometimes feel awkward and dialogue that lacks authenticity. The "creepy" scenes miss the mark and fail to provide the expected thrills. While there's a promising scene with a doctor, it's quickly followed by a disappointing "real deal" Gypsy sequence. The ending is notably bad and frustrating.

In summary, Unborn offers very little to make it worth your time, aside from a scene or two. I would rate it a 3/10 and recommend skipping it.

If you like Lifetime horror movies then this one's for you. Seen it all before. Nothing new here and not a very good movie. Main actress was the only bright spot. She tried...but with this script, it was a loser from the get-go.

I don't recommend that pregnant women watch this...

Better film than I expected. Not an Oscar winner, and not major budget. But solidly creepy and dramatic. The two police officers especially stood out as perfect in their roles.

Tubi is trying with their own production of films, and some have been real stinkers. This one is a pleasant surprise. Worst pregnancy since Rosemary. It starts with a same sex married couple, and Rachel gets pregnant through IVF, and then strange things start to happen. She gets nose bleeds and those who hear the baby's heartbeat die. It is not like there is a lot of range for movies like this, but it is done in an entertaining way that will keep one's interest. There is a cult, mass suicide, religious overtones and some interesting twists and turns. It is not a fantastic movie, but is a decently done movie and Rachel is a decent acting performance, her wife less so. The performance of the seer was also well done. I am giving it a seven, as it is not mediocre and six seems a bit stingy. And I am a tough reviewer. I did not, however, like much of the last 10 minutes.

After taking invitro fertilization, a newly pregnant woman is suddenly unnerved by the series of strange coincidences and occurrences surrounding the occasion which soon leads her to finding a connection with a bizarre reanimation cult that explains the situation and trying to save her child.

This was a rather fun take on the familiar genre formula. One of the better features here is the rather strong means through which this one utilizes the build-up to the incident as a means of psychological torment on the mother. Rather than going through some of the expected routines here with something troubling an expectant mother, this one takes a dramatically different approach to that style by making a series of gruesome accidents happen around her. As it starts off strongly from her established issues following the death of her mother and the relationship strains in quick order, these factors feature a highly effective starting point to unleash the start of the craziness that starts happening shortly after that which ranges from the freak-out on the street to the gruesome and bloody encounters she has with those around that signal something is wrong with the pregnancy. That is enhanced nicely by the wild series of confrontations that take place which are nicely infused with a fun dynamic that borders nicely on the rather bizarre series of encounters. Featuring the kind of situations where their unexpected turn towards self-mutilation or maiming serves as an intriguing twist here, especially with the early scenes at the doctor's office when he snaps during the meeting or the mother's ghost visiting her. These set the stage for the encounters later on where the series of encounters become quite similar with the eye-changes and the gruesome outcome that follows where it has some graphic confrontations as a result. The only other factor that works here is the series of escalating incidents at the compound that enhance the hopelessness of the situation and lead to a couple of fun encounters that take place there, giving this some fun moments overall. There are some big issues here that bring this one down overall. The biggest drawback to the film is a completely nonsensical storyline addition in the second half that turns the whole thing into a fully underwhelming cult angle that makes a lot of what seemed earlier feel unnecessary. Introducing the angle involving the cult looking to honor the mythical being that was worshipped by a cult that her mother was involved in and escaped from before being shut down comes off without much connection to the events that start happening to her. Most of the possessions and body-hopping that carries on here takes so much suspension of disbelief to make realistic sense of that this feels like a completely different film altogether, especially once the cult at the center of it all comes into play as this all is so tenuously connected it barely feels connected to what's going on. As well, there's the overly familiar storyline at play here which might be problematic for some, which are all that end up dragging this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.