Orphan – DVD Review – Win Yours Here

Written on October 26, 2009 by Marc Eastman in Movies

Orphan is one of those rare horror films that is particularly difficult to know what to do with. This is perhaps the cause of its 55% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com. There is so much going on, in such a variety of ways, that relating the pros and cons almost becomes meaningless.

For some, a decidedly unnerving “thriller” with a lot of jumpy moments is just the thing on the right evening, and the fact that it plays out fairly ludicrously isn’t going to matter a bit. For others, “brilliantly bad,” is the kind of thing that makes a lot of sense, and moreover serves a wonderfully entertaining purpose. On the other side are those for whom the first, “Oh, come on,” is followed by an abrupt end to the affair, and the fact that Isabelle Fuhrman is genuinely creepy as all get out, isn’t going to make a difference.

It’s the kind of movie that does not lend itself to any real sense of film criticism, because the only thing worth knowing is how well the trailer accurately predicts whether or not you will enjoy it. I could go on about the movie for quite a while, but in the end no one actually wants any information beyond the possibility that the preview is in some way misleading.

The answer is no, it is not misleading. You watch the trailer, and you know right where you are.

Kate and John Coleman are a fairly happy couple with two kids at home. Following a miscarriage, Kate is somewhat haunted by her lost child, and the couple looks to adoption to fill the void. They find Esther, who might be a little too good to be true. Courteous and well-mannered, the Colemans are quickly taken with her somewhat eccentric charms.

Of course, things don’t quite turn out so well, and after Esther enters the Coleman house a few odd things start happening. And, of course, we learn that the couple is not all that happy anyway, because such is actually required to facilitate all the rest in a somewhat plausible way. Kate is a recovering alcoholic, and one with the black mark of that alcoholism resulting in a near-miss event in their past. Naturally, John had an affair at one point. Their marriage is actually in a pretty good spot, but the strain is required. Trust is not absolute, and easily manipulated. If we actually had a happy couple, the wife would just say, “Hey, the new kid’s whack,” and the husband would say, “Right, get rid of her,” and that’s a short movie.

But, this is horror, and as you have probably already heard, horror with a twisty bit, and realism and plausibility are not what we are here for.

It should be noted as well, that though there are some fake out moments, this is not really scary horror, it’s more “I need a shower” horror. It’s more about unnerving you, and making you feel uncomfortable than actually being scary in any way. In fact, there’s something about the whole attitude of straight-forwardness as something intensely unsettling that the movie plays with even when it is not trying to be remotely “horror,” that makes you wonder what might have happened if the same story had been delivered in a different way… and without so much blood.

There’s a point early on when Esther rather casually drops the F-bomb at her new mother that is meant to portray something like a “Hello!” moment for Kate, and that abruptness is key to the film’s efforts at relating what is wrong with Esther. But, when the Coleman’s began enacting the F-bomb in the kitchen just a few minutes ago, it was the same sort of moment for the audience. That kind of bare openness as instrument to discomfort makes several interesting statements throughout the film, and gives the film its watchability to those for whom getting creeped out isn’t quite enough.

The DVD unfortunately does not contain much in the way of extras. A few deleted scenes, and an alternate ending which is hard to put into context and doesn’t seem to make sense.

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