Unborn But Forgotten (South Korea/Horror)
Picture: C+
Sound: B Extras: C+ Film: C+
While Japan keeps producing Horror films that are too
abstract and pointless, while Hollywood keeps remaking and mutilating recent
classics, South Korea has something brewing that is interesting if not always
realized in the genre. Chul-Soo Park’s 301/302
(1995, reviewed elsewhere on this site) is a still-underrated thriller that is
original and maybe too smart for a quicko Hollywood remake/ruination. Im Chang-Jae’s Unborn But Forgotten
(2002) had the potential to be as interesting, but it is stuck on too many
clichés.
The title suggests possibly some horror about abortion,
but this instead is about some silliness where women die 15 days after visiting
a website. Maybe the killer from The
Ring is still on the loose. If so,
she once again found that greatest of all horrors, another bad script. While the idea of the newborn bad seed is
hinted at, Rosemary’s Baby and the It’s Alive trilogy have
nothing to worry about. I knew we were
in trouble when the credits looked like David Fincher’s Seven, because
the few hundred films that ripped off that sequence was not enough. That’s a shame, because the acting is not
bad, but the film ultimately has no thrills, shocks and (always a sign of
desperation) does not know how to end.
The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is colorful, if lacking in
detail, as shot by cinematographer Park Hee-Joo. Too bad this was not anamorphic.
The sound is here in Dolby Digital English 5.1, Korean Dolby 2.0 with
Pro Logic surrounds and especially good 5.1 DTS that makes the film more
interesting than it would have been otherwise.
At least the mix is good. Extras
include trailers for other Tartan Asian Extreme DVDs including this one,
stills, interviews, and an On The Set piece. That will make those who like the film happy.
- Nicholas Sheffo
