Great new horror movie.

Rating: 9/10 (26 August 2009)

Horror has been real stale for a long time now, with only foreign movies like (REC) and the borderline-horror Let the Right One In bringing anything worthwhile to the table. But what about America, the country that spawned the most popular icons of the genre? It's mostly been wallowing in silly remakes of shitty Japanese movies or bad PG 13 ghost stories - and let's not even mention SAW and Hostel - since the last half of the 90s. It's time for a real turn-around movie to bring America back to the forefront. The Descent was good, and those horror comedies like Planet Terror and SLiTHER were nice distractions, but we need a really good, kickass return to why horror is good in the first place. With that said...Orphan.
I mean, good god. Where did this even come from? It's the most terrifying, depraved, downright evil movie I've seen out of a mainstream US theater in years! This movie is ballsy, not afraid at all to take risks or make you feel completely hopeless. I had no idea what was going to happen next at any turn in this movie; everything was shot in the dark and masterfully suspenseful. And yeah, of course the kid is evil, but she's built up in a way that makes you like her and feel sorry for her at first - something that even a good movie like Omen didn't do.
I was honestly completely surprised at a lot of the things this movie did, from the twisted opening sequence to the final bloody chase through the snow. This movie is brutal and does not hold back, and I like that a lot about it. It doesn't even try to sugar coat the children from harm - I'm obviously not going to say I like this about it, but that's what makes it so goddamn SCARY, and that is why it rules. Where other movies would come off as silly doing some of the stuff here, and while some of it is a bit "been there done that," it's all just executed so well that I can't say no.
Oh, and there are even a few comedic moments scattered throughout, adding an unexpected element of humor to the darkly chimeric mix here. They aren't too prevalent, but they're definitely noticeable. It doesn't lighten the mood, it just makes the movie more real. That's what any humor in a movie like this should do.
Yeah, there are a few dull moments, and a few kind of generic scares, but those are in the minority. This movie is just supremely good, definitely the best horror movie I've seen out of the US this decade. Highly recommended to those of you who can't turn down a good headtrip every now and then.