Unborn

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.

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.

Before the review: @Tubi you could've marketed this movie a lot better; starting with the title that probably made a lot of people say, "another Unborn? Nah." There's got to be at least three (3) Unborn titles that I'm sure I did reviews on before- Unborn, The Unborn, (this) Unborn. This was a bad choice and probably costs you a fair amount of viewers.

REVIEW:

The movie isn't too bad. The acting was okay and the setting was fitting. No horrible green screen crap. You have to appreciate story more than the actors in my opinion. It is a story delved movie. However, the story is cliché and unoriginal. The end of the movie reminded me of a retelling of the Charles Manson story (does not relate to story in the film). The story was also a little bit cliché. I'm sure it's unoriginal, but it was well executed. The character personalities are what made it unique.

The main character is a pregnant mother in a same sex marriage, who just happens to be SUPER Fxxxxxx annoying. She reminds me of a Winey high school girl where her significant other can never say the right thing; then she just takes whatever is said and runs with it, causing this huge argument. The wife however was a natural. I couldn't tell if she was acting or just being herself. Very good character with the mindset of what most people would have in her situation. I could relate to her.

I just didn't feel the main character. The way she tells her wife there's something "wrong" with the pregnancy is kind of effortless, with no heart. She wasn't convincing enough so at the end of most, and some unnecessary, arguments they both chalked it up as her being stressed, hormones, etc. If this is really what was going on with me (excuse my language), or anyone, you'd think she would grab her wife and be like, "look at me in the eyes. This is what's going on. You tell me if I'm lying. If you can't tell then maybe we rushed into things too fast and didn't know each other like we thought we did." - Something like that. Anything with heart and fear! Especially if you're concerned about an unborn child. Instead she just sits there and cries.

The movie isn't too bad and the cast was decent as well. They stayed within their budget restraints and nothing looked too ridiculous. The only outline issue I had was the movie was "in your face with a billboard" predictable.

They've made some mistakes, but overall it's a mediocre film worth a one time watch. It won't be a complete waste of time. It does still rope your attention just to see what happens to the couple. Everyone else I didn't seem to give half a crap about, but I think the story outline was supposed to have that effect on the viewer. The couples relationship was very believable. They didn't have it where one drapes the other's back on their arm kissing, with their hair whipping in the wind- type junk. It came off as a plausible and believable same sex marriage. Props to that aspect.

The sum of this movie's features (to me) lands right in the middle (5/10) of the spectrum. Like I said, it's worth a watch.

5/10.

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.

Firstly, IMDB please stop with these fake ratings getting to the review sites.

How can this film have 7 & 10 stars? There is no way this film any any capacity is that good.

The pros, the acting was adequate, that was it.

The cons, this type of film has been done to the death and this isn't the best version of this kind of movie, the typical evil voice over, just because it worked in the Exorcist but that was that movie.

Content in this film: no nudity, there are two brief scenes of erect nipple through a vest, very brief.

Mike language and at least the death scenes were better than the rest of the movie, slightly bloody, no it didn't bother me as I am a big horror fan.

The first half of the film is more of a drama than a horror film. In fact it's more of a thriller than a horror film.

My beef is in the title, fake ratings, this is why I watched this film.

Be warned: if you read a rating of five stars or above then either they have worked in the film or they know someone who has worked in the film.