Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
Orphan film
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/18/2012
A rare horror with elements of mystery and drama. This movie reminded me of The Usual Suspects, Psycho and The Sixth Sense, in a more gruesome and dark comedy way. Twist was unexpected though somewhat a bit late in the story. Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga) and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) still have effects of their third child who was stillborn. They both bring in a new member to the family consisting of deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) and son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett). The 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is clearly different from the rest of the girls. Score was apt and performances were key to make it work. This psycho-child thriller is a horrific ride despite its slow start. Vera Farmiga was amazing and you can really feel the emotion. (Isabelle …
Rating of
3/4
Outstanding - Esther will freak you out!
MovieAddict - wrote on 02/26/2012
ORPHAN is a horror thriller about a little girl Esther who is adopted by a family which suffered a recent trauma - losing a child. The family already has two kids one of whom, a little girl is deaf, but the parents (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt possibly to overcome the loss of their unborn child. They choose a 9 years old girl who was born in Russia but speaks English very well as she's been living in the USA for some years. She's wonderful, talented and gifted but there's something about her, as Mom Kate gradually comes to realize when she begins her little tricks. Unfortunately Dad John can't see it. Esther played by 12 year old Isabelle Fuhrman is terrifying and her Russian accent really adds to her creepiness.
The twist ending was absolutely brilliant and …
Rating of
2.5/4
Very Creepy
MovieMike - wrote on 12/22/2011
I tried to get my better half interested in ‘The Proposal’, but she just wasn’t in the mood for anything Sandra Bullock-ish. Then the listing for ‘Orphan’ caught my attention and I proclaimed I was going with or without her! She’s a sucker for a good thriller, or at least the promise of one – so it was a done deal. Personally I had to wonder as I had not heard much buzz on this or seen much in the way of promotion. My gut feeling was that it was probably truly bad, or was just ‘flying under the wire’ as a box-office near miss. I was willing to investigate!
For starters, we have Jaume Collet-Serra in the driver’s seat as the director. He last helmed ‘House Of Wax’ (2005), and his sophomore effort in ‘Orphan’ shows a lot of professional growth. I noted a lot …
Rating of
3.5/4
Scary little girl kept me on the edge of my seat!
mdtinney - wrote on 12/01/2009
This was a great movie, top to bottom. The acting is superb all around, especially Esther! For such a young girl she really sells the whole evil orphan thing just as well as the sweet innocent girl she pretends to be. The movie grabs your attention right from the start and keeps it for the entire length of the film.After watching this on DVD, I'm convinced Miss Fuhrman deserves a Supporting Actress nomination. Think not? I challenge you to view this and "Atonement" at one sitting and consider which child gives a more powerful, richly nuanced and emotionally devastating performance. If Miss Ronan was nominated, surely should Miss Fuhrman. Watch her eyes in the dinner table scene when the family discusses her classmate's tumble from the play structure. The little girl covers the …
Rating of
4/4
Orphan-Exciting Horror movie! Must see!
spacelion88 - wrote on 08/05/2009
Let me say that both the script and acting were pretty good, but the cinematography was absolutely outstanding! I've also been dissapointed in most horror movies to come out recently, but Orphan was certainly one of the exceptional scary flims of the past few years. During the first half hour I was afraid I'd wasted money, but despite the lack of a supernatural plot, Orphan ended up feeling as exciting as The Amityville Horror! And this is not another market-driven slasher, it's pretty unique. I thought surprise endings were all used up after The Sixth Sense, but I would have never guessed this one. Be warned that the very first scene is pretty disturbing, but I would recommend Orphan as a theatre experience if you like thrillers, horror and mystery.
Rating of
3/4
The Orphan
thebakerboyhimself - wrote on 08/04/2009
“The Orphan” rated R for disturbing violent content, sexuality, and profanity
Starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman
Directed by Juame Collet—Serra
Copy and paste the following link to hear the audio podcast of this review:
http://www.box.net/shared/static/x8f8hpzmk2.mp3
Every once and a while I’ll get an itch to catch a scary movie, and this is certainly that. This was an edge-of-your-seat thriller with all the regular elements which make up today’s token freaky film. You have blood in the first few minutes, screams, bad dreams, some jumpy moments, and some unexpected jumpy moments along with a bit of a twist at the end. “It’s Children of the Corn”, meets “Halloween”, meets “The Good Son”, meets “The Hand That Rocks the …
