Orphan Film Review ( by: Rick)

by: Rick Romanowski

So I just saw possibly one of the strangest horror movies that I’ve seen in a couple of years. It was “The Orphan” and all I can say about this movie was: Wow!!!! What the fuck did I just watch and why did I like it so much? The movie centers on a family of four who is recovering from a miscarriage and the mother adapts a very shy young girl… unfortunately, this girl proves to be highly disturbed and she has a secret she is hiding.

First off, lets start with the horror aspect of this movie. This movie builds up so much tension and sets up so many different camera angles to a point where you think something will jump out at you but nothing really happens. But, there were a few ‘jump-out’ scenes and some events were pretty disturbing. I won’t give anything away but there is one really freaky scene near the end that involves a black light and for some reason it just gave me chills. Though, giving the material this movie can easily be a slasher/thriller kind of movie.

What I also enjoyed about this movie was that it was sad, it had a storyline to it and it had a real legit family issue and this was a real family trying to cope with things. There were very touching moments and even some really heartwarming scenes with Esther. You can sort of compare this to some of the Japanese horror movies when it comes to family issues and morals but some of the scenes, I won’t name them, were just down right funny and over the top.

All I can say about this movie is that it was a thrill ride that had you saying, “What the fuck is going on” at almost every point in the storyline. The girl who plays Esther does a fantastic job of being downright creepy and sadistic and whether or not she is from Russia… she really had a good Americanized Russian accent. You have to go into this movie with an anything-is-possible mindset otherwise you’ll be disappointed. What I can say is, I wished Jimmy Bennett’s character died. Is that wrong for me to wish that?

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New Horror/Thriller: Orphan Film Review.

by: sweetreviewer

Released Date: July 24th. Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Written by: David Johnson (screenplay)
Alex Mace (story)

I went to see it opening night. I was surprised about the turn of events of the film. The films trailer might lead you to believe that the movie will be another copy cat of the Omen or Children of the Corn. This movie starts full of impact from the very beginning all the way to the end. We haven’t seen a psychological child thriller in a while, since (Hide and Seek.)

Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga, the Departed) and her husband John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) just lost their baby. The loss of this baby makes Kate seek therapy; she is depressed and fighting the urge of alcohol consumption. Kate and her husband decide to adopt a girl to make up for the loss of the still born baby “Jessica” and to accompany their two other siblings Max, (Aryanna Engineer) and Danny, (Jimmy Bennet)While at the orphanage they encounter a very bright, happy, and optimistic little girl by the name of Esther,(Isabelle Furhman.) Content that they seem to get along with this little girl, they decide to adopt her. When Esther arrives at her new home she is filled with happiness and so are her new parents. Max is so happy she has a sister to play with, that she will do anything to help her little sister and make her feel at home. While Danny is feeling jealousy towards the new stranger in his home, he feels there’s something wrong with Esther.

As time passes, a series of events begin to play out, disturbing things start happening and they all seem to surround Esther. Esther begins to be treated out of place at school. Kate is starting to suspect that there is something indeed wrong with this little girl -- while Esther is starting to have a reverse Oedipus complex.

This movie deals with various different concepts such as fighting depression, the importance of family, trust, honesty, alcoholism, death, and the consequences of wanting something so bad ,and trying to make it work. This is a very dark movie; Isabelle Furhman does a performance that makes one wonder what kind of monster is Esther?
Esther definitely brings not only the sense of the word evil back, but the act of evil itself.Vera Farmiga gives a terrific and believable performance; Kate’s husband John is good but doesn’t make the movie. Max Coleman (Aryanna Engineer) will be the next great child actress, she definitely has talent.
Overall, Orphan will surprise you; it will have you on the edge of your seats wondering what will happen next. Some scenes might be predictable, but it is definitely an original plot. The plot is not at all something incredulous, like we see in other movies; it has substance and it fits. For those who love psychological thrillers, movies that will make you think what if this happened for real? Then this is a must see.

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