Director: William Brent Bell
Notable Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif
Sutherland, Matthew Finlan, Hiro Kanagawa, Samantha Walkes, David Brown, Lauren
Cochrane, Gwendolyn Collins
When the shockingly effective and fun horror flick Orphan
didn’t get a sequel greenlit, the chances of seeing the conniving killer,
Ester, get a franchise seemed like more and more of a long shot. As the titular
killer kid, Isabelle Fuhrman was not getting younger and the story and
character required a young-looking antagonist to drive it home so as the years
passed, the rumors of a franchise seemed to dwindle. Yet, as those years
passed, Orphan only garnered a more die-hard fan base, including myself
and my own 4.5/5 blood drop review HERE, and the fans clamored for more - no
matter what.
Perhaps this is what led Paramount to purchase the rights to
the franchise from Warner Bros, to begin with, but what really surprises with
this long-awaited new entry, titled Orphan: First Kill, is that
the announced film was not a reboot. It would continue the story of Ester, in all
her horrific pigtailed glory, and Isabelle Fuhrman would be back in the role.
To make matters more complicated, not only would it be a now 25-year-old in the
role, but it would also be a prequel to the original.
As if the twist of the original wasn’t batshit crazy enough,
the path this franchise was taking seemed just as insane.
Yet, here we are with Orphan: First Kill, and
not only is this prequel a success, but it’s also shockingly effective at
replicating the B-movie madness of its originator. It’s such a fun and
delightfully twisted flick, leaning even further into its silliness as a story,
that fans of the original will consume it gleefully. Ester is back to deliver
the same fun, but she’s doing it in some all-new ways.
Granted, the silliness of its premise does require me to
spoil the twist of Orphan somewhat, so if you are still unfamiliar with
that late 00s gem, you may just want to take my advice and go watch that and
this prequel now. They both still hold up as punchy delirium in cinematic form.
Go ahead and skip the rest of this review.
With that being said, the idea that a now 25-year-old
actress would be playing a 30-year-old woman who looks and disguises herself as
a 10-year-old is still as insane as one would think. Isabelle Fuhrman remains a
delight in the role though and director William Brent Bell makes some admirable
reaches to pull off the visuals (the behind-the-scenes pictures of everyone in
giant shoes and giant sets) to make it all work. It’s not always the best, but
a large part of me is far more excited to see them do the effect in camera
rather than in post with CGI. So it’s easy to forgive First Kill for
some of its hiccups based on its practical approach and another great turn by
Fuhrman.
Once an audience is able to buy into that initial leap of
mental gymnastics around Fuhrman, First Kill sets its sites on trying to
ride the line between giving the audience what they loved about the original
and trying something slightly new. After a cold open that sees Fuhrman escape
the psychiatric institution and delivers an initial strong body count to firmly
establish the series as more slasher and less mystery flick, First Kill
proceeds to move into familiar territory. It’s almost eye-rolling in how it recreates
so many of the same elements as Ester pretends to be a kidnapped missing kid
for a rich family and starts her chaotic games, toying with the family and
starting to lay a honey trap for the dad. Creepy, yes, it still is, but
certainly redundant.
Of course, leave it to an Orphan film to be like “By
the way, this film is a bit crazier than you expected.” By the second act, the
film takes a solid spin with its characters and plot. It’s glorious. It allows
both Julia Stiles and Matthew Finlan to play with the size of their characters
and changes the entire dynamic of how the film is going to play out. It is as
if the writers and director William Brent Bell knew that by playing up the same
beats, they would be able to fake out their audience and it works like a
fuckin’ charm.
Quite frankly, William Brent Bell is a director that has
been more misfire than hit with his career, yet there is a sense he brings to First
Kill that is both B-movie and one that capitalizes on those elements by
playing the expectation. He managed something similar with The Boy (and
lost the plot, characters, map, and entire sense of logic with its sequel) but
he pops with this one despite the film’s limited budget and made-for-TV visual
look.
Orphan: First Kill is a film that knows what
it is, knows why the original one was a surprisingly effective horror film, and
then plays on all of that in some fun and creative ways. How far its
tongue-in-cheek elements and silly premise will travel may vary with its
audience, but it’s such an entertaining slice of horror franchise work it’s
hard not to love on some level. Sure, some of the acting in its secondary roles
can be a bit hammy, the visuals look a bit Lifetime-esque, and the film leans
far more into horror now that the mystery of the original is spoiled, but it
uses all of it to add to its tone.
Orphan: First Kill might be one of the big
surprises of the year and I can’t wait for this franchise to continue.
No comments:
Post a Comment