Orphan: First Kill

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Hypopituitarism is a rare condition that can be caused by tumours in the pituitary gland, poor blood supply to the pituitary gland, head injury, brain surgery or other conditions. It is a disorder of the pituitary gland in which not enough of one or more hormones can be produced. In children, it can cause growth to stop or to be very slow. With a height of 1.61 metres, the leading actress in ORPHAN: FIRST KILL, Isabelle Fuhrman, is by no means a tall actress, but in this film she plays a person affected by this growth disorder. The predecessor ORPHAN was released in 2009 and was a surprise success with a box-office takings of around 78 million US dollars. At the time, Fuhrmann was only 12 years old and therefore ideally suited for the role.

This is what it is about

Leena is considered a particularly critical case. She lives in a closed psychiatric institution in Estonia, and ekes out her life there at the age of 32. However, you can’t tell how long she has lived there, because due to hypopituitarism she still looks like a small and innocent girl. But she uses this physical peculiarity for her own purposes and has robbed and injured people several times. Being extremely cunning, she manages to escape one day and immediately reverts to old patterns. When she discovers a mugshot of a young girl named Esther, who is desperately wanted by her family, she recognises the similarities to her own appearance and immediately poses as the daughter of Allen and Tricia Albright. Unknowingly, they immediately bring the young woman to the USA, but soon the façade crumbles and not only the family experiences a rude awakening.

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Review

This review comes without any knowledge of ORPHAN.

Horror fans have had to wait just as long as they did for the sequel to AVATAR for the story of the bloodthirsty orphan to continue. Now, however, they are getting a prequel that sheds light on the events that took place almost exactly one year before ORPHAN and are set in 2007. What is unusual about this is that we see a character who is actually younger, but whose actress has aged massively in the meantime and thus seems almost unsuitable for the role. However, since it was the express wish of horror director William Brent Bell, who already realised the two THE BOY films, to bring Isabelle Fuhrman back to the set, a great deal of effort was necessary to conjure the youthful glow back into the now 25-year-old face of the leading actress. Both make-up and special effects were needed to make the illusion possible, and this was largely achieved neatly.

It should be said that the attentive audience definitely cannot be fooled and can clearly see that it is not a child. But in fact, the visuals now fit the story much better, because they no longer use a child star, but actually create a certain form of authenticity. It should also be mentioned, however, that inconsistent depictions creep in again and again, making it clear that there has been some clever cheating in places. For example, especially in distant wide-angle shots that do not show Ms. Fuhrman from the front, there are repeated sequences that show different sizes and proportions of the protagonist and thus make it recognisable that a body double was at work here. Nevertheless, this should not be a decisive subject of this critique, since the effort for the rejuvenation is clearly to be honoured and the film enjoyment is hardly diminished.

Just (not) a horror story

In addition, we see a quite decent and sympathetic story for the most part, which, however, is based more on suspense than it could be classified in the horror genre. There are some small twists that are indeed unexpected and break with clichéd stylistic devices, but in retrospect they are not played out to their full strength and therefore quickly lose their charm. Not infrequently, the film spoils itself, using items that will quite obviously become important again at a later date. If you haven’t already seen the previous film, you can basically expect a similar idea to last year’s TITANE in the second half of the film. In contrast to the Palme d’Or winner, however, ORPHAN: FIRST KILL cannot boast such visual power and rather practices the use of more discreet colouring. Milky and hazy images are the result, making the whole work seem cold and uncomfortable.

Away from the nice basic premise, this will once again be a magnet for paedophile lust gratification, characterised by power games, thought experiments and daddy issues. This is hardly the aspect the production team was aiming for, but it does form a tiresome side effect. Even though genre lovers will probably get their money’s worth, the film lacks a pleasant dynamic, because there is actually a steady build-up of tension that mostly peters out and, moreover, simply repeats or anteasts the premise of the 2009 film. The longer ORPHAN: FIRST KILL goes on, the smaller the gaps in the plot holes become, creative one-way streets and gimmicky scenery emerge that tragically contradict any logic.

Conclusion

In the great mash of countless disastrous horror stories, the prequel thus stands out and shows us some pleasant moments, but ultimately remains completely harmless and unimaginative. Did we need the film? Certainly not. Can you still watch it for the nice and trivial pastime? Absolutely. The only question that remains open is whether we will see a pre-prequel, because the back story of the not-so-young lady is far from being told.

How did you like the movie?
(3 Bewertungen, Durchschnitt: 4,33 von 10)