Film Review: 12/12/12 (2012)

The birth of the Anti-Christ is the name of the game in the doomsday film 12/12/12 (2012) which is about as interesting as it sounds.  This film is directed by Jared Cohn (who also writes and stars in) and has nothing to do with director Darren Lynn Bousman’s 11/11/11 (2011) but Cohn did also star in 13/13/13 (2013) but as a different character.  The film stars Sara Malakul Lane as new mother Veronica whose baby Sebastian was born on 12/12/12 and whose birth left a doctor and nurse dead on the operating room floor and her with no recollection of what happened. 

It’s not long before Veronica starts to experience strange things when it comes to Sebastian who gets around on his own and does whatever he wants to when he wants to.  After her husband is killed in their house Veronica realizes that there is a mysterious man trying to get to her and get to her baby.  She then decides to hide away at her sister house as the police search for the mysterious man who has ties to a doomsday cult and who may already have killed someone all in the name of getting to Sebastian.  Now Veronica must protect Sebastian at all costs despite the fact that people keep dying around her and the killer points to Sebastian.

Cohn’s screenplay hits all the marks as a competent horror film but unfortunately the execution is lacking and the film drags because there’s nothing original that hasn’t been done better in films like Rosemary’s Baby (196), It’s Alive (1974) or The Unborn (2009).  Placing the film in the context of the 2012 Doomsday Prophesy made it topical but that’s about it and since it’s no longer 2012 the film is no longer compelling (if it ever was).

The performances are okay at best as the screenplay gives nothing for Lane to play with other than being the yelling and screaming mother and Steve Hanks as Detective Barnes is as caricature at best as he’s always seen with a lollipop in his mouth.  Just another indie horror film that’s not worth remembering.