DVDs in Review

Orphan

Title: Orphan (2009)

Release date: November 30 2009

Certificate: 18

Format: Reviewed on DVD, available on Blu-ray

DVD RRP: £17.99

Rating: 4/5

'Orphan' is a surprising film. From the box and the trailers, it looks like an inferior, shock-filled, glossy remake of 'The Omen' in which another hell raising adopted child pulls apart a wealthy family in an increasingly violent manner.

The elements for a rip-off are very much in place, but 'Orphan' turns away from this temptation and crafts something psychological and thoughtful, rounded off with thoughtfully building scenes and, unusually for the horror genre, strong female characters.

One of which is the title character - Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman in a terrifically nuanced performance despite being aged just 11 while filming). Esther, at first, seems to be the perfect child - she's artistic, surprisingly mature for her age and polite.

The orphanage doesn't really know her history but that doesn't bother the parents-to-be, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard), who, after losing their latest attempt at a child during birth, want desperately to complete their family and add a third child to their brood.

At first all is perfect but it appears that Esther has some psychological problems which are slowly but surely manifesting. Crucially (to make a film of this ilk work) is that these bouts of evil character development happen gradually, building up psychologically instead of physically.

Esther is a very manipulative, complex character that threatens to implode an already fractured family instead of exploding it. 'Orphan', at some points, plays more like a psychological drama than it does a straight horror, but by the end the effect is shocking.

Farmiga and Sarsgaard play the parents brilliantly - even when they argue, their body language expresses familiarity and acceptance. These aren't characters who are shocked by every revelation - they know what their spouse is thinking and how they'll react.

The violence on Esther's behalf may get somewhat overblown by the end, but 'Orphan' is a great little thriller. Even the obligatory twist in the tale isn't contrived; it actually makes sense and adds to the characters, whether you take to it or not.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra (despite only having helmed two dire films before this - 'House of Wax' and 'Goal 2') crafts an icy, uneasy and intriguing sombre environment for his characters to populate without being engulfed by his clean, stylish compositions.

'Orphan', like its title character is a moody, simmering and intelligent piece of work. Give it a try. The DVD contains some deleted scenes and interviews.