Digital Copy Special Edition
Warner Bros. | 2009 | 123 mins. | Rated R
Classic films like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen and to a lesser degree, The Orphanage have proven that the story of a troubled child, in the horror genre can lead to box office gold. All of the films I mentioned above, had some characteristics or quirk that separated them from the dozens of evil youngster films that started popping up nearly fifty years ago. Unfortunately, for director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax), Orphan is strictly formulaic stuff, featuring the standard demon-child formula. The scares are old hat; tricks with a mirror and creepy music at every turn.
Kate (Vera Farmiga) is still reeling from the stillborn birth of her daughter and feels she needs another daughter to give all the love for the one she lost. As a result, she and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) adopt a nine-year-old girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) from a local orphanage. The little girl seems bright, artistic and kind; almost too go to be true. But alas, she does seem a bit..odd. As it turns out, Esther is originally from Russia, and the family that brought her to America died in a mysterious house fire.
Despite that, things seem to be going great for Esther and her new family. Kate starts teaching her how to play the piano; John spoils his new daughter at every turn. Esther’s younger sister Max (Aryana Engineer) worships her. Only her brother Danny (Jimmy Bennett) seems bothered by the amount of attention their parents lavish on her. About a third of the way through the movie though, we are reminded this is supposed to be a horror flick, and things really begin to change.
We begin to see a much darker side to cute little Esther, as the monstrous things she does seem to pile up fast. For instance, Esther seems to know more about sex and dirty words than a typical nine-year-old, and she spies on her parents making love. We know Esther is getting creepier by the minute because every time she’s up to something no good, lightning and thunder emanates from the sky.
Though the premise is predictable, the nail in the coffin for Orphan is that the characters are flat out dumb. Even when Kate begins to suspect something might be wrong with her daughter, she doesn’t do a lot about it expect peak in a few drawers and casually investigate some of the girl’s more peculiar habits. She seems more concerned about invading the privacy of her nine-year-old, than she is about protecting her other children. She’s not the only stupid person in the group: dad is a serious lightweight who stands around doing nothing and the mother’s shrink (Margo Martindale) is an idiot, her little sister Max is the only one with any brains, and she’s too scared to do anything.
Many of Orphan’s problems are a result of the script, written by first-timer David Johnson. I hate to be so pointed, but there isn’t a lot that’s good about it. His dialogue is laughable, his pacing is all over the map, and none of his themes are fully developed.
The lack of development and real scares makes one wonder if the filmmakers were more concerned with producing a mishmash of cheap thrills rather than a genuinely chilling story. Whatever the aim was, Orphan ended up an unfortunate misfire; one that will likely be remember as a cheap rip off of classics in the genre.
Orphan features a solid 1080p/VC-1 transfer that features striking textures and impeccable detailing. Warner’s presentation is both consistent and capable, perfectly capturing every nick and spatter that graces the screen. Blood boasts a suitably pulpy appearance, and a late-game blaze licks to life with convincing menace. It helps that close-ups and wide establishing shots look fantastic. Every pore on Vera Farmiga’s nose is apparent; every sliver of stubble on Peter Sarsgaard’s chin is crisp and refined. The picture doesn’t exhibit any artifacting, source noise, ringing, or crush. Blacks are deep, delineation is impressive, depth is absorbing, and DNR is nowhere to be found.
The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 has a wide dynamic range and a strong bass. Detailing is excellent in the front channels, with a multitude of small, subtle noises contributing to the action, while the surrounds come to life during the most-intense moments.
Orphan has a surprisingly limited slate of special features:
• Deleted Scenes (4 min.; SD): These were all wisely cut. Includes an alternate ending.
• Mama’s Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Kids (15 min.; HD): Takes a look at Esther, as well as other ’evil children’ throughout cinema history.
• BD-Live enabled.
• A digital copy disc of the film compatible with iTunes and Windows Media, the offer expiring on October 27, 2010.
Orphan is available NOW on Blu-ray, DVD, On-Demand and Digital Download.
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”1.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”2.5/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
