Reviewed by Toby Weidmann
Stars Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jimmy Bennett, Aryana Engineer,
Jamie Young, CCH Pounder, Margo Martindale, Lorry Ayers, Brendan Wall | Written by David Johnson & Alex Mace
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £24.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 122 minutes | Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
What makes a good horror film? The answer is different for everyone: some like their nerves tingled by chilling suspense, some like the rollercoaster thrill of the cheap shot jump scare and some simply like to be grossed out by hyper gore. Orphan has all of these things and yet it will not go down as one of the greats of the genre.
Orphan reworks the established child from hell theme well, with Fuhrman’s creepy orphan kid, Esther, inveigling her way into the Coleman family that consists of loving husband and wife team, John and Kate (Sarsgaard and Farmiga), and their two nippers, Daniel and the deaf Max (Bennett and Engineer). But Esther is not the sweet, charming and talented child she appeared to be at the orphanage, and soon displays some deep character flaws, from use of bad language to a talent for manipulating those around her. It’s clear she has a hidden agenda and, as Kate soon learns, will stop at nothing to break up this seemingly happy family unit. Despite all the evidence that Esther is one scary little kid (with tragedies and bodies piling up around her), no-one believes Kate that Esther’s really an agent of chaos, particularly her husband and therapist, until it’s too late.
On paper it all sounds very good, and owes more than a nod to The Omen, and it’s true that the first third of Orphan is excellent. It starts with a seriously gruesome birth sequence (pregnant women don’t watch!) and subtly establishes both that there are some underlying problems in the Coleman family, despite the surface gloss, and that there’s something wrong with Esther (as the film’s great tagline highlights). The second third meanders along at paint drying on wall watching pace, occasionally dishing up some surprises and laughs along the way, but takes too long to get to where it’s going and the normally very reliable Sarsgaard seems to give up the will to act. The final third certainly inserts a much-needed jolt of adrenalin and tension as the film reaches its bloody climax, but it’s also when you won’t believe what your synapses are telling you.
Despite this, Orphan is much better than the similarly themed The Unborn and director Jaume Collet-Serra’s previous horror, House Of Wax, and includes some genuinely scary sequences. Farmiga is good as the distressed mother, Engineer is cute as a button as the little sister and Fuhrman is hauntingly sinister throughout.
EXTRAS ** Deleted scenes and an alternate ending; interviews with the director, producers and star Fuhrman; a making-of featurette called Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children; and the theatrical trailer.