Orphan: First Kill

Seriously some of these reviews make it sound like people were expecting a coen brothers movie lol. Sure it has flaws but if you just shut up, drop the negative Nancy vibes and watch it, it's entertaining. Of course it's different from the first film cause we already know the twist. They had to make it different or it would be lame.

In this prequel, a ruthless psychotic killer Leena Klammer was able to escape from the institution where she was confined in Estonia. She took advantage of her delicate child-like appearance to pretend to be Esther, the missing daughter of a wealthy American couple, Allen and Tricia Albright (Julia Stiles and Rossif Sutherland). Even if her subterfuge was not always perfect, Esther easily got close with Allen because of their common love for painting. At first, you'd think that Esther will do exactly the same thing to the Albrights as she did to the Colemans in the first film. It was the mom who was wary of Esther first as was their eldest son Gunnar (Matthew Filan), but the father remained oblivious. There was a scene where husband and wife were having sex, but was interrupted by a jealous Esther. However, the filmmakers had a big surprise twist midway in the story that made this prequel totally different. Even if it seems this prequel can be watched without watching the first film, it is advised to see the first film first to "enjoy" the franchise better. The big revelatory twist of the first film was already spoiled early in the prequel since they assume you already watched the first film. In medium shots, director William Brent Bell used younger body doubles to maintain the illusion of Esther as a child, but closeups of Fuhrmann's face can't really deny her present age.

I really loved the movie. I thought it would be disappointed but it wasn't. Isabelle furhman killed it again , amazing prequel- I hope it get the attention that deserves.

Trash from beginning to end, every weak scare to trick camera shot to make a 20 something appear to be a child. This film was so unbelievably irritating I'm shocked to see its score is 6.1 at the time of this review. What are you watching? The acting? The story? The horror? The incorrect second title? It wasn't her first kill! Not even close. The problem with this truly comes down to the casting and the need to use the same actor. She aged out and it completely makes it impossible to suspend belief. It looks like shes floating on her knees and the body double for far away shots is clewrly not her. The twist was a life raft on the titanic, too little too late. The plot holes and oblivious characters were too much to take.

I honestly never thought I'd be insulted by a movie, but here we are. The original movie is a classic masterpiece, flawlessly directed, beautifully written, remarkably acted and ended perfectly. Instead of giving the fans the prequel they had been waiting for, 12 years, they tried desperately to be "edgy" and "different" and give the fans exactly what they DIDN'T want with the idea behind the absolute MESS of a story and new characters that I couldn't care less about, it should not be part of the canon. They ruined Esther's character, considering her one of the absolute best horror villains of all time. The original is timeless and if it was to be released today, it would be just as successful as it was back in 2009, if not even more successful. That proofs that a prequel for it shouldn't be made at all to hold up to it.

I absolutely loved the original Orphan film so was excited to revisit the character in this prequel. After half an hour or so I was a tad underwhelmed as things felt fairly similar to that first film. However ... an absolutely deranged and outlandish twist sends things in a very bold direction which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was not expecting it at all and it made for a truly wild and intriguing second half of this film. I do think they could have played on this a little more and shortened the pre-twist antics to strengthen the post twist antics, but still, a real treat. The de-aging technology or whatever they used worked really well on Isabella Fuhrman and didn't break the illusion at all. Julia Stiles was on fire in a very interesting role. One criticism however is that for large sections of the film the picture had a smoky and murky quality which made certain sections seem out of focus and I really didn't enjoy this. Overall though this film is an absolute blast. Fans of the first Orphan film will love this I'm sure. Despite the fact that for a horror film its never particularly scary, the killer twist and deliciously deranged second half make for one hell of a ride.