"Orphan" just a case of horror déjà vu

  Promotional poster

Everyone knows that the majority of horror films released in the past 20 or 30 years all start out with an initial scare scene. So when the viewer goes into the theater and is prepared for that big scare and all they get is some rehashed tripe, the film is most likely headed straight downhill. Such is the case with “Orphan” which features the "classic" gruesome dream sequence to start off the film. All the viewer can do is let out a sigh and wonder if it’s too late to ask for their money back.

Little Esther has just found herself a new home. Kate and John Coleman, two parents who recently lost a child at birth, have decided to adopt her. What they don’t know is that Esther has a secret that will put them and their two children in grave danger. Esther’s initial behavior is strange, but everyone writes it off as her just getting used to living with a new family. But after Esther’s schoolyard bully gets seriously injured, Kate begins to wonder if they’ve adopted a lunatic.

The parents of adopted children have been in an uproar about this movie ever since the trailer first surfaced. Their problem with it stemmed from Esther saying “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own.” The subsequent hub-bub over the line got it cut from the trailer, but not from the final film. I believe these parents shouldn’t be mad at the studio for making this film, but more so at any idiot who uses this film as a basis for whether or not they'd adopt children.

With that out of the way, the movie itself is quite lackluster. It’s basically a retelling of “The Good Son” with a few minor changes and a twist ending. “Orphan” plods along from one (already) scene (it) to the next, throwing in just about every horror cliché you can imagine, before mercifully revealing Esther’s big secret. The twist is rather clever, but the entire movie depends on it, making a second viewing of the film completely unnecessary.

The one positive aspect about this movie is its saving grace, Isabella Fuhrman, who plays young, psychotic Esther. Being only 12-years-old and having the ability to play a character such as this one so convincingly and with such conviction takes real skill. She has a very bright future in the entertainment business and a performance such as this one is sure to open a lot of doors. The rest of the cast turn out decent performances, but none compares to the job done by Fuhrman.

“Orphan” is one of those horror movies that just falls in line with the rest. Sure the cast played their parts well, it was sharply directed, and the editing was straightforward and didn’t feature a bunch of hokey trickery, but there is nothing that sets it apart from the rest. You’ll see it, just to forget about it the next day.