Ok so it's been a while since I've seen a psychological/thriller/horror movie, especially one with children in them. I guess the last one must have been Omen, and I can't honestly say that I saw it b/c i was covering my eyes and plugging my ears through 78% of it.
I got scared really bad when I was a teenager, you know, like they say don't every hit anyone in the back of the head when they're cross eyed or they'll stay that way? It was the equivalent of that, only it was my stupid boyfriend at the time, and he scared me with one of those things that you are asked to stare at on an internet site and then some stupid big noise jumps out and scares you to death. I almost cracked over that one, so a decade later, I'm much better and am now able to get over the handicap of not being able to enjoy psychological horror movies, especially, the "child-killer thriller". So Ian and I went to see Orphan.
Ok, this was a really really really good choice. And those of you who know me know that it's RARE for me to say that something is really really good on CynicalThea-scale.
I was tempted to go see it after the piece on this movie done by the Globe and Mail, "Evil children subgenre spawn Orphan".
Believe it or not, the movie was both horrific AND comedic. The suspense was worth it even with the sometimes absurd elements that are so common for the horror/thriller genre. At one point after one of these inane scenes, someone just blurted "what?" And you know it was exactly what every single person in the room was thinking b/c of the giggles that followed. For a 1/3 full theatre, it was actually quite a positive film experience. We laughed, we held our breaths, we reacted to the the utterly impossibility of some scenes, and we cheered when the good guy gets a break. Honestly what more could you ask for?
It's hard to provide a good review without giving anything away. So instead this is what i'll do. I'll compare it to The Good Son, a similar movie from 1993 (play back from the way back) starring McCAuley Culkin. Incidentally so was Elijah Wood. The kid form home alone AND Frodo ? Weird, who would've thought?
The Good Son vs. Orphan
Small animal was killed by the "evil" child Yes Yes
Slippery icy surface involved Yes Yes
Oblivious father Yes Yes
Two other kids in the family Yes Yes
(10 year old brother,
4 year old sister -- too young to cry foul)
Sounds increadibly similar, doesn't it? Hmm, but let me tell you, on the "disturbing" scale, Orphan is like The Good Son to the infinity!
In 1993 I was 13 and honestly, The Good Son scared me to death. I was afraid of my younger brother for days afterwards even though he is my biological brother. But as an adult now, I can honestly say that Orphan has done for me what The Good Son did for me when i was 13; but as you can imagine, as adults we are hard to scare b/c of that well-polished film of cynism that all adults have built up over the years. So you can imagine how good this movie is to actually have made me sit up and pay attention.
The acting is superb, the cast perfect. There were so many people I've never heard of in this movie, but it was good enough that it makes you google/IMDB them when you get home. Peter Sarsgaard, of course I've heard of him, but I really stuggled to remember a blockbuster...so really all in all it wasn't really like one of those movie that you go to see famous people play another character, you really went there to be thrilled by the concept, the movie, the acting.
Anyway, at the end of the movie, I realized how thoroughly entralled I was. My hand was stiff from gripping Ian's (his hand was so clammy from my crazy-grip : men, take note, bring a kleenex). My back, my butt my whole body was so tense, and i was so lost in the movie and the suspense that i had literally NO idea until I tried to stand up.
I was totally thrill-chilled. Well, isn't that the reason we go to these sorta movies in the first place?
So apparently there are a whole bunch of these movies, maybe I'll review and expand my critique to the next level (from the choices named by the GnM article): The Bad Seed, Omen, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned (and the Corn), little Billy from The Twilight Zone, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Angels with Dirty Faces, Dead End Kids, Rosemary's Baby.
It's amazing how many choices i have ahead of me. I'll have to come back with a total breakdown next time I come back. I'll have to work out a schedule with Ian to make sure he's home with mem when I watch these....
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