Orphan

Jaume Collet-Serra, the loser responsible for the desperately routine House of Wax, is supposed to coach the evil kid, one of those who are now (theoretically) supposed to be popular? I have no idea if he’s been talked out of it since then, or kept sedated in Hollywood, but please keep on making films just like this in the future! Considering the subject matter, the film goes quite outside the established horror practices of recent years, and so we get to watch two hours of PRECISE psychological games that confirm the holy truth that horror is all about the characters. It takes courage today to make the viewer tense by having characters more or less just having a dialogue with each other, but if it gets a little rough every now and then, the scriptwriter is supported by perfect actors. The adults are flawless, and the kids too, but twelve-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman gives me the chills (although according to the photos on IMDb, she’s actually a cute girl). It’s too bad that in the end, Serra didn't have the balls to get rid of the traditional genre vice, the clichéd ending. Whether or not DiCaprio and Silver were properly aware of what they were putting out into the world, I say again: just like this! (14/10/2009)

My goodness, that was quite nerve-wrecking! And it starts so easygoing (if we don’t count the first scene, that is), an idyll with smart little Esther and her likeable parents and siblings; I almost didn’t want to believe anything could go wrong. And it does! In the course of half an hour, Esther turns from a cute girl into the kind of bitch you want to murder with a pickaxe between the eyes, and the psycho-terror begins. Among other things, I liked how the film builds tension – there are several times when the director gives the impression that there’s a about to be jump-scare, a chilling scene or a twist, but he rarely delivers them, which does great service to keeping and increasing the attention of the viewer. For someone like Jaume Collet-Serra, who’s made the average House of Wax, this kind of mature psychological horror is a massive surprise and a great promise for the future. (09/10/2009)

Distinctive, atmospheric, surprising. Orphan rides the first two acts in a well-trodden path, only to turn into an uncompromising knockout for all those who dared to doubt its potential. A bit simple and naive, but an excellently acted, psychologically refined and spooky fable about a cute little girl's nose, which has something to offer even after repeated screenings thanks to its brilliant direction... 80% (04/07/2011)

I certainly wouldn’t show the brutal beginning to expecting mothers, it was even a bit much for me, but otherwise a superb genre movie. In fact, I even considered giving it a five, but I didn’t find one of the twists at the end convincing (on the other hand it did mean that the always superb Karel Roden made an appearance). But in my opinion... the hammer hit the nail right on the head. :) (20/02/2010)

A reasonably good thriller with a thickened atmosphere – you can slowly see the rising of the heaviness, the dark atmosphere and despair. Of course, I enjoyed the film the most from about the time the two desperate parents meet Esther to the moment this sweetheart gets slapped in the hospital. Other than that, I wasn't really entertained; that’s right, I didn't care for the final "fight". Anyway, I rate it positively because it has a certain atmosphere. Don't expect anything supernatural, though, just a proper freak-out. (15/04/2016)