Orphan - How to Screw a Movie Over With a Really Bad Trailer
Written: Oct 20 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Isabelle Fuhrman, interesting movie concept, good pacing/directing
Cons: bad trailer, some ridiculous scenes
The Bottom Line: Orphan unfortunately never managed to get good theater buzz due to an absolutely dismal trailer- but maybe it'll find some life on DVD
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| t13monkeys's Full Review: Orphan |
“That was the stupidest thing I’ve seen,” was what I uttered to the person sitting next to me after watching the trailer. And that’s the saddest thing about movies- marketing works- Orphan, as it turns out, is not the total disaster the trailer makes it out to be- it’s actually a decent horror flick that edges itself above the average B-horror. But on the other side of the spectrum, you get great trailers for films like Transformers 2- which then turn out to be horrible flicks. It’s the old adage of never judging a book by its cover.
Orphan kind of resurrects a forgotten idea, and while the trailer seems to convey it as another one of those “creepy demonic child in need of exorcism” flicks- it could almost be seen as an intentional diversion to help the film build up a sense of mystery. As the title implies, the film starts off focused on the Coleman family, who are looking to adopt. Kate (Vera Farmiga, who eerily shares similar features to Maggie Gyllenhaal) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) are a well off couple looking to fill the void left behind by their dead daughter “Jessica”. They end up selecting Ester (12-yr old, Isabelle Fuhrman) and realize that there is something wrong with her that has a dreadful impact on their already strained marriage and other children.
Orphan fits in the category of films best enjoyed when left unspoiled, so I’ll attempt to keep spoilers to a total minimum. Despite the somewhat dry synopsis, it’s best left to let things play out as they are, and there’s a lot of conflict in this film that leaves the viewer feeling powerless- a feeling that some good horrors like the recent Paranormal Activity can bring out in their audiences. Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra is great at taking ordinary moments and transforming them into suspenseful scenes, but his taste for the overdramatic definitely shows in some flaws near the ending, which at times makes a few scenes plain ridiculous. A few poor choices though, including the “drunken” point of view, which apparently turns people into muddled blobs, don’t ruin otherwise very solid pacing, and great shot choices and use of color tones that also emphasize some artistic merit to his work.
Isabelle Fuhrman is the star of the show. At 12-yrs old the level of creepiness she manages to inject into her character is really far out there- and a few scenes had me wondering if they had a body double for her or not. Her kid looks will also probably translate well into an adult career later on if she feels this is still her calling. The other two leads, Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are less notable since they both play kind of expected roles as the paranoid emotional mother and the embittered husband- nothing really ground breaking there- though Vera and Peter do have a kind of intense kitchen sex scene (no nudity though) for those curious.
Orphan probably at the end, falls more into the suspense thriller category than flat out horror, especially by today’s standards. It's kind of unfortunate but some of the film's more gory/scary parts were cut out of the script either due to budget reasons or to appeal to certain audiences. As a result, it’s tame on the gore and doesn’t quite get inside your head like Japanese horror, but instead goes by traditional techniques of putting the protagonists into situations that the viewer can see coming- but then dragging the viewer helplessly for the remainder of the ride. If you’ve enjoyed something like The Uninvited- you’ll probably like underappreciated Orphan. Highly recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
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