FirstBorn

source: FirstBorn

A young, mixed race couple living in London become first time parents but their daughter seems to be a portal for an evil entity. Good job the girl's grandfather just happens to be an expert on the occult, how handy! Initial impression was that this could be a gritty British horror/drama, the acting was good as was the cinematography. Sadly it turned out to be rather slow, not in the least bit scary and lacked any plausible explanation. The demon, or whatever it was, could have been from any number of similar mediocre 21st Century horror movies. I have never heard of director Nirpal Bhogal before but could be a name to watch, given better material.

The ending left a lot more questions than answers. It definitely leaves a lot to be desired from the movie but it's good for a boring day. The acting is decent and the story line is intriguing... just a lot more things should have been answered within the movie. too much Is left up to viewer interpretation.

FIRSTBORN is just another low budget horror flick, British this time around. The plot is about a young couple who have a baby together only to find themselves menaced by supernatural entities. It turns out that the girl's father is a parapsychologist of sorts and arrives to help out for a while, which is the most interesting part of the film, but otherwise this is strictly generic and pretty tedious. The actors try hard to breathe life into their stock roles but don't have a lot to work with, while the scare scenes are non-existent.

I enjoyed this, some nicely spookie moments and good cast, surprisingly realistic, and some good plot twists

This British horror film is a hidden gem in the current climate of repetitive and lacklustre horror films available. A young couple, exhausted from the birth of their first child, begin to experience sinister goings on within their home. As their child gets older they learn that there is a dark entity stalking their child and they must do everything in their power to protect her. The film has a refreshingly original plot, which is well executed with a great cast. The atmosphere in the film is great, and they do well to carry the creepy theme throughout. The only thing I would say is the ending felt a little... incomplete? There could have been more closure, but none the less, well done! I don't know why this film has such a low rating as I absolutely loved this.

After the birth of their daughter, a young couple trying to settle into their new parental roles finds that their daughter has the ability to see and communicate with demonic spirits which soon puts them in danger when their efforts to protect her fail and are forced to try to stop them. This was quite the unimpressive and overly bland effort. What really tends to hold this one down is the long stretches of time where nothing much happens to make this one feel like a genre effort. The fact that it never tries to tie in the initial stages of their parenting with the idea of something actually happening due to the baby being there, as the films' highly cliched storyline proves rather continuously throughout here. With the idea of them being new parents being subjected to supernatural forces being dropped in favor of them undergoing the protection rituals for several years in what amounts to normal behavior on their part, the film brings about an unduly sense of boredom where nothing much is happening and that gives off a restrained first half which has nothing going on. The ease with which they resort to the supernatural to explain everything gives this a rather odd feeling as well with the instant approval of their fathers' sayings as gospel which simply gives this the kind of hackneyed setup that forces a confusing air around it to where it's hard to believe that had any real impact on the film itself with the total lack of explanations for what's going on around them. Likewise, the film's odd sense of jumping around to different time-periods with no warning or notice makes this one even more jarring as there's no warning or knowledge of what's happening. From finding her being pregnant at the start to immediately seeing the two in the delivery room with her the next second and suddenly then being with the six-year-old daughter in the middle of the scene creates a jarring sense to this that really could've been easily avoided. The last real issue here is the exceptionally dull finale where it tends to keep the same pace going in regards to the family forcing her to undergo the training for her skill-set which manages to really just feel incredibly bland as the endless scenes of them out in the woods or wandering around the house doing nothing which really doesn't bode too well here. These here really hold it down from the few fine points to be had here, which mainly revolve around the few haunting scenes at its core. The first attack in the house is a solid sequence, as well as the later scene where they find out her antics have brought a vicious creature into their midst. As well, once it moves back into the house in the woods where the creature attacks them staying there, it does have some solid moments with the chilling creatures coming into play and bringing about some fine brawls and encounters that do serve it well. These, though, are all that really work for this one. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence and continuous children-in-jeopardy.

Another reviewer already pointed out that this is uneven, but as he also said, it has quite some nice ideas. And it is shocking at the right places, and has some really nice visual effects too (for a low budget movie). We get treated with a fantastical story that seems to have way more backstory than we actually get to see. So there is even more in this or could be maybe in the future (?) ... although to be fair, I don't think this will happen. Actors are doing a decent job overall and there is enough to hold the viewers attention. There are some decisions that may feel forced or wrong, but overall the movie does good in that department as well. So if you like to take a chance on a horror movie and don't mind a couple of bumps along the road ... enjoy

Charlie (Antonia Thomas) and her boyfriend James (Luke Norris) have a child Thea. Strange things happen around the infant. James is familiar with the occult as is his dad (Jonathan Hyde) who they reluctantly call to help. He goes into paganism 101 protect mode with paint, salt, and hot wax. When things get out of hand, they bring in the heavy artillery: Elizabeth (Eileen Davies) a self taught entity remover. She goes big time with herb tea and circles made from a hickory stick. The film combines a few horror genres, but basically was a demon after a child. Decent "B" movie acting and effects. 3 1/2 stars Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

FIRSTBORN, more than anything else, is mostly just a depiction of a particular kind of "reality". In the reality of FIRSTBORN, there are invisible paranormal entities all around us of which we are mostly not aware. A few individuals are born just naturally irresistibly attractive to these paranormal entities, many of which are actively hostile and dangerous, and if your new baby happens to be one of these attractive nuisance types, well, then, raising baby is even more troublesome than you would expect. The tendency to draw unwanted supernatural entities is just another genetically inherited characteristic that tends to run in families, like red hair, freckles and buck teeth. In FIRSTBORN, life with one of these paranormally attractive children is all about learning all the special mystical rules and rituals one must continually observe to keep your child, and yourself, safe. The real risk, however, is that the entities attracted by the paranormally charged baby will seriously harm other family members once there. Melted wax rituals, daily renewed salt barricades at entry points, and so on, are a must to keep everyone safe. Once attracted by the problem child, any dolls or other objects with a face on them are entry points through which dangerous entities, attracted by the baby, can enter our realm. Broken down, FIRSTBORN is nothing more than a mundane story of what it's like when irresponsible parents (and we established their basic intrinsic irresponsibility at the beginning of the movie) are tasked with the tough responsibilities of raising a problem child… with, you know, monster rash. There are even some scenes where grandpa relates the tips and tricks of how to cope with the colicky,*ahem* I mean supernaturally afflicted, child. Oh, and how to change diapers, too. If you took the exact same story and simply exchange the child's problem from "attracting bothersome supernatural entities" to "violent autism", little would change. FIRSTBORN is just the difficulties of unprepared parents raising a difficult child with supernatural entities sprinkled on top. Ta Da! The End. The foregoing truths established, it isn't a bad movie. The acting is satisfactory and perhaps a little above average, the visuals for the paranormal entities are passable if not inspired or original. If you like horror stories and have a reasonably low bar of entertainment in your tastes, it's worth a watch. The only unarguably negative element about the movie is that, being obviously low-budget, and not being able to spend too much on the special-effects for the entities, there's a lot of ridiculous shaky- cam, goofy close up and distorted angles, and similar such "camera techniques" employed to try to keep the entities looking frightening and mysterious. By fiddling with the camera continuously so you don't get a good look at the monsters, the director hoped to keep your fear and interest up. It doesn't really work because it never does and is virtually the trademark of such movies as this.