From Russia With Terror!

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2010)

Each year I try to attend a couple of Film Festivals in the hope to stumble upon obscure, international and experimental genre movies that normally don't reach wide audiences, but the absolute best film I watched at this year's edition of the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film was this relatively "mainstream" horror effort. "Orphan" is a traditional and largely predictable thriller with familiar themes and numerous of inevitable clichés, but nevertheless it's great entertainment thanks to a continuously suspenseful atmosphere and sublime acting performances from the ensemble cast. Evil, murderous children still somewhat form the last taboo in the horror industry, especially if there isn't a straightforward explanation for their malignant behavior, but more than once they guaranteed nail-biting suspense and genuine scares already. "Orphan" reminded me most of the little-known early 90's thriller "Mikey", since both films deal with cherubic but evil-minded murdering their adoption families, but this one is far more elaborated, sinister and engaging. The not always happily married couple John and Kate Coleman want to compensate the loss of their third stillborn baby by adopting a child from Sister Abigail's orphanage. They promptly fall in love with the 9-year-old Esther, an incredibly polite and eloquent girl with a somewhat peculiar dressing style and Russian roots. They take her home and hope to raise the perfect family with her and the other two kids, Daniel and the deaf/mute little girl Maxine. Esther quickly sows fear and terror in school and around the playground, but the other children are too petrified to betray her. When Kate also accuses Esther of being a demonic child, her husband and therapist blame it on her alcoholic background and hallucinations. Meanwhile Esther's vile acts become increasingly horrific and more diabolical. It's good to finally see another horror movie that features all the known and dreadful clichés, but you don't allow them to bother you. Quite the contrary, they even work! You know there will come a scene in which Esther is standing quietly in the bedroom staring at her little unsuspecting sleeping sister, but when the scene finally comes it still sends cold shivers down your spine. You also know that it won't be easy to defeat Esther in the finale, but still you jump up in your seat with fear every time she pops up again. That is called genuine suspense, and it works so effectively because we truly care for the good characters and gradually build up an aversion towards the despicable child Esther. The script patiently – the film lasts 123 minutes which is quite long for a horror film – takes its time to draw a detailed image of the Coleman family situation, which makes it practically impossible not to cheer for them. During the last half hour, when you assume Esther already unleashed all of her demons, the story still holds a couple of shocking twists in store regarding her personality and background. "Orphan" is brought to an even higher quality level thanks to all the brilliant acting performances. Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga are excellent as the struggling couple, but the most remarkable performances come from the youthful actresses Aryana Engineer (as the adorable little sister Maxine) and of course Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther. She's really amazing and 100% terrifying, with her penetrating eyes and macabre karma. Just have one look at the film's poster image and you'll know exactly what I mean. Great film, highly recommended to ALL horror-loving audiences.