[Case 39]
Plot:An idealistic social worker saves an abused 10-year-old girl from her parents, only to discover that things are not as they appear.

Cast:Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane.

My Thoughts:Great psychological/supernatural chiller!

Review:"Case 39" is the second creepy kid flick to hit in a 7 month time span. The first being Dark Castle's "Orphan", which was released back in July. "Case 39" stars Renee Zellweger as a really dedicated social worker. Her job intails the usual stuff, keeping innocent kids out of the hands of bad and dangeorus parents. Her latest case, and 39th case, hence the films title, is a little girl named Lilith (Ferland), who Renee's character Emily Jenkins, suspects is being abused by her parents. During her first meeting with Lilith and her parents, things go very strangely.

Lilith doesn't speak, Lilith's father doesn't speak, and her mother looks pretty strung out and at her wit's end. Emily reports this back to her boss but he writes it off as simple weird behavior, and therefore, cannot allow her to get involved. Emily however opens up a pipeline of contact with Lilith, and allows her a way to contact her if she ever needs help. Which Lilith eventually does, and Emily arrives at the house, just in time to stop Lilith's parents from broiling her alive in an oven.

After the ordeal, Lilith becomes attached to Emily, and Emily works out a way to take guardianship of Lilith until they can find her a new home. But soon, Emily begins to experience strange supernatural occurances, and people around her begin to die. This is when Emily begins to question if saving Lilith was the right thing to do. "Case 39", written by Ray Wright, and directed by Christian Alvart, is a very intriguing and interesting film.

The movie is also smart in how it allows the story to unfold, and doesn't give you all the answers to what's happening and what and who is responsible right away. The films supporting cast, the people backing up Renee and Jodelle is also very solid, including Dule Hill, Ian McShane, Bradley Cooper, and other thesp-vets. But the story is what keeps an otherwise, ho-hum creepy kid flick from going off the rails. That, and Renee and Jodelle's performances. Renee gives a good performance, but Jodelle really steals the show in this movie.

Her character Lilith goes through a variety of emotions in the film, and also a variety of personalities as well. Of course I am not surprised that Jodelle did such a good job in this movie considering her performance in "Silent Hill", as the films good and bad girl, so to speak. But in this movie, she steps her game up a bit, and really keeps her performance a lot more on balance. There's one scene between her and Bradley Cooper's character that is one of the pics standout scenes.

"Case 39" though waits until the thrilling finale to give you the answers as to what's going on and whether or not the innocent in all of this is indeed, "innocent". But at the same time, the movie makes it evident around the middle of it's hour and 40 minute run, that a certain someone is really not all that they seem to be. But there's still many unanswered questions that the viewer will have fun mulling over and pondering as to why what's happening is happening.

"Case 39" isn't a gore flick, but it really plays up the supernatural, sinister, and ominous elements of it's story. There's a very disturbing kill involving a swarm of wasps which should they have been bees, would've made The Candyman very proud. And then there's the movies conclusion, which takes disturbing to a whole nother level, and ratchets up the creep factor pretty high. There's also a game of mental chess between Emily and Lilith which gives the movie an extra layer of entertainment value, and adds a bunch of thrills to the pictures final act.

There is however a small downside to the movie, which is the same downside we have experienced more than once this year. I'm talking about those pesky scenes which appear in the trailer but do not appear in the actual film. There's only about two of them, but still, it's annoying. I dunno how many times I've said it, if you're not gonna put it in the movie, shooting it for the trailer is a waste and quite frankly, very shady practices. But alas, "Case 39" still makes the grade.

The movie is definitely worth seeing if you like creepy kid horror films, and if you're a Renee fan, or just a horror fan in general. The movie won't deliver gore and tons of blood and splatter, but it will psychologically shock and disturb on many levels.

Positives:Renee and Jodelle give great performances. As do Bradley, Callum Keith Rennie, Dule Hill, and most of the supporting cast. The films story unfolds very nicely, the pacing and directing is crisp, and the finale is full of chills and thrills.

Negatives:Scenes from the trailer that don't appear in the actual film. Once again, so very annoying.

Overall:Three and a half stars out of four.





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