Description: A website seemingly kills every woman who views it within 15 days. A female reporter begins an investigation that leads to the discovery of the site known only as The White Room. Uncovering the secret has its price, leaving her only 15 days to solve the mystery behind the cryptic portal and break the curse before its too late.
Seems Like Its All Been Done Before Let me start this review by clarifying the title to this film. The original Korean title is Hayanbang which roughly translates as "White Room." When the film was subtitled it become Unborn But Unforgotten. Someone at Tartan designed the artwork with the confusing title Unborn But Forgotten which makes no sense at all.
The film is basically a Korean remake of Ringu but replaces the phone call with a website that kills its female viewers 15 days after clicking on the site. The conceit is that all of the victims die appearing that they had just given birth although friends say that the women were not pregnant. Into this mix comes a television reporter named Han Su-jin (Eun-ju Lee) who has just learned that she is pregnant by her news anchor boyfriend. She views the site and has 15 days to figure out what is causing the deaths and save her own life. Aiding her in her investigation is a policeman Lee Seok (Jun-ho Jeong) who specializes in cyber crimes.
All in all this is a decent film for those not too familiar with the genre. For viewers who have some knowledge it all seems to be a been there done that experience. The problem is that Ringu did the same thing much better.
The Tartan disc offers the film with its original Korean soundtrack available in Dolby 2.0, 5.1, and DTS. The picture is as sharp as can be expected for films of this type. There is an on the set featurette, some cast interviews, a photo gallery and trailers for this feature and for other Tartan releases. You would do better to rent than to buy this one.
Great blind Pick!! This was a surprisingly great movie! I didn't know what to expect and I am glad that I bought it!!
Multi-Layered And Original Horror-Tragedy A very polished, well-made and subtly spooky movie, "Unborn But Forgotten" is on the slow side (sometimes Too slow, admittedly), and highly demanding of close attention to really 'get', even by Asian standards, where atmosphere and complex plot structures are very common. But it rewards with a psychologically and emotionally engaging tale, one that really affects and chills. The 'killer website' idea had become well established even before this was made in 2003, but in Unborn But Forgotten it's visitors to the website of an abortion clinic who are meeting their end within fifteen days of their log-on to the site. In a scenario similar to The Ring/Ringu, the movie's protagonist comes upon the curse by accident, while investigating deaths that she had thought were unrelated, and has to sift through a web of secrets and otherworldiness to solve the puzzle of the curse before she becomes another victim.
Themes of regret, redemption, compassion and loneliness are woven throughout, and a figure central to the movie, who emerges in the latter sections, is one of the most tragic entities to ever appear in film. Unusually bold in its handling of the final third of its going, Unborn But Forgotten doesn't pull itself back just to avoid being politically incorrect.
**WARNING: POSSIBLE SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD**
There's no question that some viewers will be offended at the angle from which this looks at the whole idea of abortion. While it avoids depicting either the staff or the clients of the clinic as one-dimensional or deliberately cruel, the movie, well, I might as well just say it, sympathizes with the aborted. Which of course is quite taboo nowadays. And while the title alone will probably have given most a good idea of where it's leading up to on its path of secrets, it's not a straight-forward, cut-and-dried, 'revenge' movie. It's quite emotional, and the motivations behind some of the characters are genuinely surprising. Dark, tragic on multiple levels, and yet with glimmers of something else. The finale is unique and memorable, and the movie as a whole, even with the 'killer website' angle, can be said to be quite unlike anything else out there. Recommended.
Emphasis on "forgotten". Unborn but Forgotten (Chang-jae Lim, 2002)
I am an unabashed fangeek when it comes to Asian horror films. The Far East have been putting paid to cocky Americans in the horror film arena for almost a quarter-century now; even during the last golden age of American horror, the Japanese were kicking our tails. (Those who think that "torture porn" is a "new trend" might want to go back and revisit the first two Guinea Pig films directed by Hideshi Hino or T. F. Mous' Men Behind the Sun, all of which are over two decades old.) Now, when the American horror industry is consumed with bland remakes and adaptations of video games, it seems we've pretty much ceded the field to such Eastern auteurs as Takashi Miike, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Pang Brothers, Hideo Nakata, etc. etc. ad nauseam. Because we see so many excellent horror films from Asia, I'm always a bit surprised when I see one that's mediocre. (I've seen very few that are outright bad.) Unborn but Forgotten is one of those movies that helps me remember that not every horror flick to come from Region 3 is great-- or, for that matter, even good.
The plot will likely sound very familiar to anyone who's seen three or four horror movies in the past decade: women who visit a certain website die fifteen days later. Plucky Young Journalist(TM) visits site for research, is cursed, and must discover how to unlock the curse before she dies.
Yes, it's Ring all over again, but without any of that movie's atmosphere, presence, excellent acting, or creepy cinematography. This was Lim's first film; in the ensuing five years, he has not made a second. That alone should tell you something. I'm giving it two stars because, while it's not good, it's not bad, either; it's just kind of there. A forgettable way to kill two hours. **
Could Have Been So Much Better! This is a film that could have been good, as it is however, it falls along the wayside into a predictable horror/thriller. "Unborn But Forgotten," may appeal to some viewers, but with the usual horror cliches in the film it does not make for an interesting or entertaining film. The film starts with a journalist, Su-Jin (Eun-Joo Lee) [who sadly committed suicide in 2005] as the lead protagonist in the film. She is investigating a mystery surrounding women associated with a women's hospital who die 15 days after viewing a website.
Moreover, these women were all pregnant at the time of thier deaths: Even though friends and family members of these women state that they were not pregnant prior to their deaths. While trying to unravel this mystery, Su-Jin finds that she herself is pregnant. Further, she has also visited this strange website; and therefore finds herself doomed to the same fate as the other women who have since died. With 15 days to discover the mystery of this website, she begins to investigate why this is happening. As Su-Jin searches for the origins of the curse, she discovers that it is the result of a vengeful curse.
Now, I have seen worse films in the horror genre, and I do believe that this film could have been a decent film. However, the scriptwriting and terrible acting is what dooms this film from the start to the finish. There are so many loopholes in this film, it would take an essay to finish this review. I never understood the films premise of why the ghost was angry, or why she started [or how] a website. Please, enough of the haunted website films. They are getting old. Some directors could make this work, but director Chang-jae Lim does not. I recommend the film with caution, as it might appeal to some viewer, but not many. As for me, I did not think it was very good. [Stars: 2.5]
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