Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, Matthew Finlan
Intro:
… made for people who don’t mind the odd giggling fit while watching a horror movie, and it makes for a surprisingly fun time.
Over the past 16 years, William Brent Bell has been making horror movies that can charitably be described as ‘embarrassing’. The video game dilettantism of Stay Alive, the bass-ackwards viral nonsense of The Devil Inside, the double dose of tonal headaches with The Boy and Brahms: The Boy II; he’s made quite the name for himself for all the wrong reasons. It seems, though, that he has finally managed to come through with a properly entertaining feature with Orphan: First Kill.
Isabelle Fuhrman returns to the role that made her famous: murderous con artist ‘Esther’, and this prequel finds her as unsettling and intimidating as ever. The villainy exercise she got from last year’s Escape Room sequel seems to have paid off, as she handles the still-trashy trappings of her character’s… appeal, let’s say, with real zeal. It helps that the effects work to cover up the 13-year gap between films stays well away from any CGI de-aging grotesquery.
Also, Julia Stiles – who’s been handed a role that Katherine Heigl would’ve made a dog’s breakfast out of back in the 2010s – delivers with such straight-faced finesse as to actively compete with Fuhrman for best performance here.
The tone that Bell and writer David Coggeshall are going for has a sizeable chance to turn some audiences away, as it is so utterly buckwild as to take the most ludicrous aspect of the original (who Esther really is) and make that into the most normal part of this new story. Bell digs into his predilection for camp, but anchored by the cast and the surreal imagery provided by DOP Karim Hussain, he has found a story that fits his style.
The script plays around with the appeal of seeing a prequel to Orphan in the first place (spoilers: it’s not because Esther is a good person), landing in genuine satirical territory in showing her attempts to fit into the typical American family.
That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have issues. Bell’s more annoying habits, namely his tendency to use the soundtrack and editing as crutches for jump scares, are still present here. Considering that bits of the dialogue are designed specifically to poke fun at the cliches of this kind of story, it’s not the best look. The film also loses steam as it reaches the finale, which might end up saying more about what leads up to it and that it simply can’t maintain the level of lunatic energy.
Orphan: First Kill is ridiculously fun. Emphasis on the ridiculous. Where the original made at least some attempt to present its bizarre premise in a relatable or realistic way, this is an all-out ride into Cuckooland. This is made for people who don’t mind the odd giggling fit while watching a horror movie, and it makes for a surprisingly fun time. William Brent Bell has some ways to go yet to properly redeem himself, but it seems he’s on the right track.
