Orphan (2009) Critic Reviews

You want a good horror film about a child from hell, you got one. Do not, under any circumstances, take children to see it. Take my word on this.Read the full review

A two-hour nervous breakdown.Read the full review

Furhman plays pure evil with such supreme calmness that only her eyes shine with madness. Indeed, all of the child actors are superb, especially the expressive Engineer.Read the full review

The best part of Orphan is the outstandingly lunatic plot twist that kicks in just as you're checking your watch and hoping they'll wrap things up. This development - I'd love to tell you, but you wouldn't believe me - boosts the movie into overdrive for a final 20 minutes of happy, disreputable mayhem.Read the full review

It's a cut above most spooky-kid movies, with a twist that sets it apart.Read the full review

Clocking in at more than two hours, the movie teeters between psychological horror and violent blood-letting and, as such, probably won't completely satisfy fans in either camp.Read the full review

Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.Read the full review

There’s something creepy, and not pleasurably so, about watching children pantomime so much malice and fear.Read the full review

Orphan is being marketed as a horror movie, but that's misdirection. It's more of a standard thriller in the "evil amongst us" mode, about a group of people who inadvertently admit a psychopath into their midst.Read the full review