Bornless Ones

Moving to a secluded house, friends helping a woman care for her disturbed brother find the house was used to summon a horde of demons which possess the group one-by-one and begin tormenting them for their own pleasure forcing them find a way of leaving the house alive.

This was quite an enjoyable effort. One of the more enjoyable aspects of this one is the fact that there's such a ravenous and chaotic energy present throughout this one which is quite an important feat. There's plenty to like with the film's scenes of the demonic imagery present throughout the walls and windows of the cabin which signal the start of the haunting leading into the possession and eventual outpouring of chilling incidents in the house which are quite enjoyable. With the scenes generally featuring plenty of voices echoing from deep in the house or showing them wandering through hallucinations featuring cult members engaging in the ritual slaughter with the lone victim being ripped apart, there's a generally creepy and atmospheric tone throughout here that sets the film's rather strong action in motion. The start of the possession with his increased physical mobility and threatening nature starts in on the scenes of the friends slowly tormenting them with otherworldly actions where they're clearly under the influence of some demonic force where it deals with the pregnant friend cutting herself up and then tormenting the remaining members of the group, the supposedly crippled friend turning around and brawling with the group and the various scenes of the demonically-possessed beings going around tormenting them in some rather fun chilling moments that are rather nicely handled. There's also a lot to like with the way the demonic action is mixed together with the creepy look of the possessed individuals, going from the traditional dark skin and blackened eyes along with the disfigured voice bringing about physical deformities that emerged from the incidents concerning their original deaths which are nice handled and makes for a great demonic force. Coupled with the rather brutal and bloody action with the demons driving them to mutilate and disfigure themselves in shocking moments, there's plenty to like here even though it does have a few minor flaws. The biggest issue here is the rather complex and confusing backstory to everything here which is glossed over rather quickly and doesn't really make much sense. There's little about why the house was used or what the purpose of it all was for so the way they get released seems rather clunky and really hamfisted. That also applies to the rushed and confused finale, where it seems to switch personalities on the participants without any real reason and everything just doesn't make any sense. The last big issue, and what really hurts this one the most, is the fact that this one is so structurally and stylistically similar to dozens and dozens of other efforts doesn't really do much for it as it plays into the suspected tropes so easily it doesn't offer up much in the way of surprises as it goes along. Beyond these qualms, there's a lot to like here.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity.

This can be looked at as a direct rip off of The Evil Dead or an homage to it. The voices of the demons most notable, the symbols/sigils, reanimated dead bodies, the cabin in the woods etc. However, it was still enjoyable while not on the same level. The gore was not over CGI and appeared more use of practical special effects for that portion. The story line was OK. They attempted to inject some new ideas, or a new idea (using demons to heal sick loved ones-not a spoiler starts right off that way), into the formula but it really was not a make or break concept even though the film wanted to use that as a reason the demons are conjured up. The acting by some was better than others but nobody was awful yet nobody I am really expecting to see in any quality films. I have been surprised before at people's acting resumes though. Jennifer Aniston from Leprechaun to Friends to Horrible Bosses. She did quite well and who'd thought after any Leprechaun movie any actor would have a chance. Then it just kind of ends. Nothing special. It gets a 5 for decent quality and being better than most Evil Dead or NOTLD rip offs.

Definite inspirations from Evil Dead and Flatliners, but kept simple and with a decent pacing that makes the runtime fly by.

There could have been a few more over the top moments, but the film was probably hampered by budget. The story is also a little rushed, probably due to similar constraints.

Overall while a bit amateurish and sloppy, it is an enjoyable enough possession horror. Would have benefitted from going a little more extreme and pushing boundaries in theme since it suffers in budget and originality.

This movie took idea after idea from the Evil Dead! I watched it with a group of people and we all kept yelling out "another Evil Dead rip off"! It wasn't even close to as good though. It's a time killer if you're bored but wouldn't seek it out. I'd also wait til it's free. Not really worth the rental fee. The makers of Evil Dead should get a cut of the profits for this one!

Saw 'Bornless Ones' being fond of horror/thriller regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre), and the cover was cool. Was less taken by the concept though, which sounded ridiculous. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing.

Unfortunately, do have to agree with the low rating and the poor reviews. 'Bornless Ones' is one of those films that mostly didn't take off, starting off interestingly, but went downhill far too early, never recovered and progressively got worse, particularly in the near-unwatchable later stages. Never judge a film without seeing the whole thing and wanted to not make 'Bornless Ones' an exception, so gave it a fair chance.

The location is also suitably spooky.

However, so much brings 'Bornless Ones' down. All the acting is either over-histrionic or disinterested, both in a few cases, and the direction is so phoned in and pedestrian, one gets the sense that the director showed no interest in the film at all. Too much of the soundtrack is intrusive and annoying, made worse by the excessive and obvious sound effects that just cheapens the mood. The film looks drab generally and like it was made in haste, the photography especially betrays that with its amateurishness. The effects are far from special, the complete opposite in fact.

Where 'Bornless Ones' most underwhelms is the writing and story. The writing is incredibly lazy, it's awkward in dialogue, is gratuitously crude, confused because of not tying things up or going into full detail and doesn't feel complete. The story suffers from a very erratic pace, apparent early on and gets muddled and ridiculous in the second half. It further suffers from feeling too much like a short film stretched out with a lot of useless padding. The stereotypical characters are as unlikeable as they come, the inconsistent and illogical motivations bring them down further.

For a film billed as a horror, there is very little interesting and nothing remotely scary which makes a waste of such a spooky-looking location. The scares and thrills are too few, barely any even, and are far too predictable, anaemic and weakly timed to make impact, with the chaotic pacing and obvious sound editing cheapening them significantly. 'Bornless Ones' doesn't engage let alone thrill, the more it progressed the more chaotic but everything just feels chaotic and hasty), predictable and more nonsensical it became for a premise that was already far too derivative with far too many easily foreseeable moments. The ending leaves very little impact, very contrived and not much of one at all.

Overall, very poor. 2/10 Bethany Cox