The Unborn: Creepy kids and a beautiful lead don't always make for a good film.

In The Unborn a young woman named Casey starts having bizarre dreams. In them, she is haunted by a creepy little boy and other weird creatures and images she does not quite understand. As she tries to discover the reasons for her restless nights she uncovers a hidden family secret that could forever alter her future.

Writer/Director David Goyer's tried to build the film around a believable/sympathetic character in Casey (played by Odette Yustman) and a religious myth in the "dybbak" which was haunting her dreams. Toss in some Nazis (yes, I said Nazis) and an exorcism and the film would seem to take of itself right? Well, not really. The rest of the characters were little more than humdrum by-the-numbers stereotypes one would expect to see in a film like this that failed to do anything but take up space (or be victims). Goyer also forgot to make the story original or even halfway interesting. Plot lines that should have been explored further were jettisoned in favor of more shots of Yustman in her underwear (not that most men would complain) or of her trying to convince people she was not going crazy. If he really wanted to blow an audience away, Goyer should have focused more upon developing those supernatural elements he had in the film instead of using them as nothing more than a crutch to prop up lame action sequences that seemed out of place, such as the ending.

Unfortunately, his attempt to make a new Exorcist for the 21st century failed to consistently deliver the thrills or chills one might have expected in a supernatural thriller, and The Unborn failed to be anything more than a half - realized attempt at supernatural chicanery.

Grade: D+