Sunday, May 8, 2011

Orphan

Orphan (2009)
Horror | Mystery | Thriller

A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be



When I first saw the trailer for this I did not think much of it, it just looked like an average slasher with a little girl as the villain. But I was totally wrong, this is a horror, yes, but it is more of a drama/horror than straight horror. Not only does it go for two hours (very rare for a horror film, especially mainstream), but it has a great cast who portray characters with some depth who we actually care about...well, most of them anyway. The story itself is very simple, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) have two children, but lost their third child during pregnancy. Therefore, they decide to adopt, and while at the orphanage stumble across a nine year old girl on her own, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman). Both Kate and John bond with her instantly, and three weeks later she is part of the family. However, it does not take long before Esther's dark side shows, and the only person who sees this is the mother, but who would suspect innocent Esther of foul play? This is the set-up for a suspenseful, dark, disturbing horror film that packs an excellent twist and some truly frightening scenes. There is an excellent scene in a playground, in which Esther stalks a bully through a maze, and a very tense final ten minutes which I shan't reveal! However, these scenes feature some cheap false scares accompanied by a loud sound. These are very tired, and for most horror fans are not the least bit effective. It is a shame they are relied on throughout this movie, because director Jaume Collet-Serra (who directed the 2005 slasher remake of House of Wax) builds up tension very well, but spoils with scares which are hokey and outdated.

That was really my only problem with the film, nothing else bothered me at all. If I were to nitpick, Sarsgaard's John Coleman was written to be a little to naive I think, because it was fairly obvious that Esther was troubled. This is not Sarsgaard's fault, he does a great job, this was the writer's one and only fault.

The acting was outstanding, Farmiga is excellent as the mother. She basically carries the movie, and plays a strong female character who is easy to sympathise with. It is revealed she drunk after the death of her baby which led to an unfortunate accident. Not only does this lead almost everyone else to think ill of her, but leaves her to unravel Esther's past by herself. Fuhrman is simply amazing as Esther, playing a two-sided character so well at such a young age is kind of scary. Going from sweet little angel to scary-as-shite murderess is her specialty, and I can see her in many horror movies to come.

Many people say Orphan loses momentum towards the end and turns into a derivative slasher, but I could not disagree more. I think the end is perfect, with the twist being revealed with perfect timing to allow for a heart-racing finale. It ended perfectly, and even better, in a way which does not indicate sequel (I hate sequel-friendly endings very much).

Although it is not a perfect movie, it is a damn entertaining one, and for a horror movie, is surprisingly intelligent. It does go for awhile, but no scenes drag on, they all have a purpose in developing character and heightening the tension until the very end.

7.5/10

Have you seen it? If so, what's your opinion?


42 comments:

  1. I like the ending. I didn't expect that type of ending. The scene with her using make up was weird. :\

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds better than most generic horror films these days.

    ReplyDelete
  3. this was a great movie for me at least hehe

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awesome blog! Was a nice read =D Keep it up, i'm enjoy reading it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. seen this one, one of my favorite horror movies

    ReplyDelete
  6. This film was F**** scary!! 7-8/10 indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  7. hmmm might check it out! thanks :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. I planned to watch this a long time ago, then I must have forgetten it, but I'll watch it now! : )

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree, the little scares in the film, took away from it's integrity and just made it more of a generic forgettable horror..

    ReplyDelete
  10. I did see this flick - it was quite creepy - something about little girls being all evil just kicks up the horror so much

    ReplyDelete
  11. Was a pretty good film, although *SPOILER* the scene where the nun died was stupid, someone would have known where she had been that day....

    But really good! Twist was excellent, didn't see it coming!

    *SPOILER AGAIN* The Neon room drawings WOW. Excellent stage design on that part.

    Good film!

    ReplyDelete
  12. At first sight it seems pretty cliche, but will take a look to check out the elements you mention. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh i love that movie :) great one!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks good. Ill defo watch this. following

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice review, i'll check the movie out!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I remember seeing this movie... Kids are the creepiest things

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nice movie dude !

    ReplyDelete
  18. Looks good, I'll have to watch it now.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The premise itself sounds disturbing man

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've seen this one, didn't liked it much! But i'm not rly into terror...

    ReplyDelete
  21. When I saw this my little sister was going through a pig-tail phase. I was scared shitless of her for a good 2 months.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Whats funny is I was going to tell you my rating was 3.5/5 before seeing yours. I guess great minds do think alike. :P

    ReplyDelete
  23. looks interesting! thanks for sharing that

    ReplyDelete
  24. I wasn't a huge fan of this film, but it kept my interest the whole time at least. Follow'd

    ReplyDelete
  25. I don't like scary movies haha.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I saw the movie, found it entertaining, but the ending didnt seem to fit well

    ReplyDelete
  27. i honestly dont think the girl on the cover looks that creepy...just sayin

    ReplyDelete
  28. This movie was okay. It got a little weird towards the end. I would say its watchable.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Haven't seen it, not sure if I want to...

    ReplyDelete
  30. i was actually wondering if this movie was any good. i love horror stuff, thanks for the review i guess ill go see it

    ReplyDelete
  31. Awesome post man! Keep blogging cause this is great!

    ReplyDelete
  32. i wanted to see this one when it came out but i just never got around to it

    ReplyDelete
  33. Seen it, was actually good, didn't see THAT coming

    ReplyDelete
  34. i forgot i wanted to watch this, thanks for reminding me

    ReplyDelete