This is what happen if Little Orphan Annie was remade as a horror movie.

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2013)

Having seen movies like the Good Son, Omen, and Children of the Corn. I'm clearly a fan of the 'Bad Seed' horror genre. I was really looking forward to this movie. In my opinion, it was pretty decent. The adoption community has a different opinion on it. They felt that the movie will turn away good couples from adopting children from orphanages. The movie got so much heat, that Warner Bros. edited the movie's trailer to remove Esther's line "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own" after receiving numerous complaints from adoptive parents and foster care organizations. The line remains in the movie itself. I believe that the movie could hurt orphanages, but I also believe people can understand it's just a movie as well. Not all children are like that. The controversial story is about a couple, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) whom are looking to decide to adopt the child. At the local orphanage, they find Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a gifted young Russian girl who loves painting and wearing old fashion dresses. They decide to adopt her, and welcome the child into their home to live with their other two children, Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) and Maxine (Aryana Engineer). After a while, Kate sees a bunch of danger signs in events that show that Esther might not be as perfect angel as she seems to be. Concerned for the safety of her family, Kate tries to get John and others to see past Esther's sweet facade. John is pretty clueless about not seeing the series of alarming events and in denial that Esther was the cause of it. At first, it seems realism to see how John cannot see the fact that Esther might be evil, but after a while, John should have started to have doubts and see through the lies, but no, he is pretty much oblivious closed-minded to everything that happening around him. Come on, writers. Not once, did he think, that Esther had anything wrong with her. It was shocking performance from newcomer Isabelle Fuhrman and she was able to make the audience to really hate her. In real life, Isabelle she is so nice in person but sometimes she still pulls that creepy stare. She was able to make a little girl pretty scary, and chilly. Still, there were some scene that supposed to be creepy that makes it a bit cheesy. I just don't believe in the whole turning on and off the night looking at the painting scene. The other girl, Aryana was just the opposite in her character, very sweet and tragic because all she wanted was a sister. Like her character, Aryana has a Cochlear Implant, which has improved her speech and hearing. She is not deaf, but a mild hearing loss. There was an agent looking for a little blonde headed girl that could sign and she was the perfect candidate! Another child actor that did well is Jimmy Bennett as Daniel. He was a bit annoying at first, but his character got better in the end. Too bad, the movie never explains what happen to his character in the end of the film. The movie seems to fail a lot of explaining. It seems like a lot of scenes were cut out from the movie due to rewrites. The movie never truly explain what happen at the pond, Kate's alcoholism and what happen to Jessica. In my opinion, it should have been more clarify. There were a bit of cliché in this film, like the bully who just like to bully, silly jump scares and the cheesy one liner in the end. The ending line was horrible, the minute the words left her mouth my immediate thought was the movie Ring 2 (2005). This movie seems very influence by 1992 film The Hand That Rocks the Cradle as well, except that here the psycho is not a nanny but a nine year old kid. The part where Esther freaks out in the toilet while her "parents" are discussing about her with the child psychologist is a direct mirror of Rebecca de Mornay freaking out in the toilet, smashing things up. About the doctors, when Esther gets the cast on her arm, you'd think the doctors would notice the scars on her wrist. It has enough Grand Guignol moments and scenes of sheer terror to make a quick killing at the box office even though it borrows from just about every other Bad Seed flick Hollywood has ever unleashed. Producer Leonardo DiCaprio also gave us a film that twist ending comes out of left field. It's a wonderful horror however, the twist is far too ridiculous to be taken seriously. There is also a Alternate ending to the film to check out. The Orphan brings a fresh and strong balance of dark humor, thrills, and storyline. However, some parts would work better if the movie was more spread out. If you like this movie, also check out the orphanage (2007). Altogether, it's a good watch.