[Orphan]
Plot:Revolves around a husband and wife who lose a baby and then adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.

Cast:Peter Sarsgaard, Vera Farmiga, Isabelle Fuhrman, David Fine, Skye Peters, David Leonard, Scott Dunn, Cassie Farren.

My Thoughts:Superbly thrilling.

Review:Lets face it, when it comes to the killer-kid subgenre in horror films, there's not much room for error. If you don't add a fresh, unique, interesting, and new spin on the age old story of some nutty kid trying to wack his or her parents, then your film is gonna crash and burn big time. Dark Castle, who brought something new to the ghost-movie/haunted house subgenre with "House On Haunted Hill", and "13 Ghosts", tries their hand at spiffying up the killer-kid subgenre with "Orphan", a film which follows a couple named Kate (Farmiga), and John (Sarsgaard) Coleman, who after losing their baby, decide to adopt a child.

While at the orphanage, they discover a 9-year old girl named Esther (Fuhrman). Esther seems to be very bright, creative, and well-spoken. And John immediately takes to her. Kate soon does as well. So they decide to get the paperwork done, and take Esther home. But soon, it becomes evident as Esther lives with Kate and John, that she has some...."issues". And doesn't fit in very well with her family, or the kids at school due to her proper manner of speech, and proper manner of dress. In fact, Esther's behavior is that of a hyper-mature blueblood, a refined type...not a normal american little girl.

She definitely doesn't behave like Kate and John's two other children, their son Daniel, and their mostly deaf-mute daughter Max. Esther handles her problems and confrontations in her own way, which leads Kate to believe that she might be a lot more insidious and not as innocent as she seems on the surface. But can she get her husband John to realize this before it's too late? "Orphan" works on all levels that a good horror/thriller should. It clicks with every scare-scheme, suspense-set up, and thrill-scene that it trots out. The film runs like a well-oiled machine, and a huge portion of this is because of Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther.

This young actress does an excellent job of stepping into the role of this well-spoken and talented, yet cold and calculating Esther, the mysterious orphan girl who has a backstory that may or may not be the real deal. Which is the films underlying theme, is Esther really who she says she is? Is she really an orphan? Was she really born in Russia as the story that the movie lays out for us goes? That's the theme, and the game of the movie is the typical race against time for the mom in the family to discover Esther's evil secret before Esther exterminates the entire family.

One stereotypical element of the movie though, besides the films MAJOR STEREOTYPICAL ELEMENT (more on this later), is the "mom" thing. In films like this, it always seems mom is the one who notices something is wrong with little Jimmy or dear little Annette. Dad meanwhile is totally wearing blinders, and can't see the meat cleaver behind Junior's back, or the sewing needle in little Emily's hands. Go figure. "Orphan" doesn't change that stereotype very much. And of course in this film, like many killer-kid movies before it, the evil child manages to pull strings, and manipulate scenarios to the point where mom gets the blame for the bad shit that just went down.

But in this film, where Vera's character Kate is a recovering alcoholic, it's even easier. A lot easier for little Esther to frame mommy for insane behavior because we all know mom has a weakness for "the sauce", and her accusations are just "the liquor talking again". Or her mental psychosis from losing her baby earlier. Yeah, it's all the same. But the film is so well-written, and Isabelle Fuhrman plays this character so damn well, that when you're watching these old plot points from previous murderous-tyke horror films play out, they all seem new, and refreshing.

This movie is truly an exercise in what wonders can come out when the casting for the lead role of the scary little girl is dead -- on. Fuhrman just carries this film like a WWE wrestler carries a steel chair. She steals every scene she's in, and makes all of her on-screen moments suspenseful, chilling, and great to watch. You completely buy into the character, and she's so good, that sometimes it slips your mind that she's actually playing a role. Now onto this MAJOR STEREOTYPE I mentioned earlier. And this also works as the films one slight flaw.

The character of Esther is supposed to be from Russia, and her cold, calculating, evil persona and behavior really fits the way a lot of movies stereotype Russians. Russians in American films, are either portrayed as cold-hearted mobsters, murderers, or some nefarious persons. That stereotype doesn't change here, and Fuhrman's even got the Soviet accent going for her too. And there's also a scene where the age old game of Russian Roulette makes an appearance, all at Esther's behest.

Lets just say that if there were a NAARP (similar to the NAACP), they'd be protesting this movie right alongside those wackjobs from Oklahoma City who said "Orphan" scares people away from adopting children. On the flipside though, the film is an equal opportunity offender. Esther's European accent, refined mannerisms, bible reading, and wordly persona slowly get under the skin of some of the Coleman family members, a white american family, some of which wish Esther would just act "normal"....i.e. play guitar hero and related things.

So while this film portrays another Russian as a muderous psycho, it also shows how ignorant white americans are to anything unlike them. The films final act is it's best effort though, and there's a scene in act 3 between Esther and John which will either make you laugh, cringe, wanna barf, or all of the above. All of this leading to a finale which ends the movie on a powerful and fitting note. "Orphan" is definitely a good horror movie, and one of the few that's driven 80%-plus by it's performances. A rareity in the genre today with all the pop musician, "it girl", and generic blonde casting that takes place in horror movies these days.

Positives:Isabelle Fuhrman's performance, the supporting cast is also pretty good. Many creepy, suspenseful, and engrossing scenes to keep the viewer intrigued and interested. A great finale.

Negatives:The character of Esther was a bit too much of a typical Russian stereotype.

Overall:Four out of four stars.





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