The Orphan (2009)

*SPOILERS*

Kate an John are a married couple struggling with the loss of their third child in labor. The loss of the baby was especially hard for the mother who begins experiencing emotional and mental issues. At the same time the two of them consider adopting a child which leads them to Esther, a very bright 9 year old, who charms them during the first visit to the orphanage. Esther soon becomes a member of this wealthy family, but not all family members are thrilled to see her. Daniel, the eldest child, hold resentment for her, because of the attention she has been given, as a new member. HE starts hating on her, and bullying her in school which makes it even harder to blend in with everyone else. Also her specific way of dressing and a variety of talent she possesses make her even more striking labeling her as a freak. On the other hand, we have Max, a sweet innocent deaf girl, that manifests excitement and relief when her new sister arrives. She makes a bond with Esther making the two of them inseparable.
A series of events trigger the dark side in Esther. As I already mentioned first she is bullied in school, then the wounds in Kate and John's marriage starts opening again, her half brother hates her.

In the first half of the movie, while everything is still "normal" I kinda feel sorry for Esther. She is that kind of evil I like to call naive evil. Similar character I can describe with this term is Samara from The Ring 2002 (the American version) ---and this is important cause Jap. and Ame. versions are two different films. Both Esther and Samara want one thing only. A family. When their perfect family that they longed for their entire lives is taken away from them or starts being the exact opposite from the perfect family, the evil is unleashed. There is one crucial difference between Esther and Samara though. Samara is a paranormal entity, a ghost locked inside a cursed tape. Esther is real. Very real. Once again I highlight the fact that this is my opinion during the first half of the movie, that is until the movie starts to unfold itself. As the movie flows we find out that Esther is not a little girl at all. She is an escaped patient from a psychiatric hospital from Estonia. She is actually 33 years old, but has a rare hormonal disorder which didn't allow her to grow anymore than a 9 year old girl would. But mentally, she is fully developed and conscious. And very, very dangerous.

And that is the part that really pissed me off. By giving Esther a believable background and explaining her condition thoroughly, the movie loses that feeling of paranormal it was carrying in the first half, when I still believed Esther is a fucked up child from god knows where. There certainly is something much more creepy about crazy children than about crazy 30 year old women. I'm not saying that I didn't like the movie. This is probably one of the best films that came out of USA in ages, but to deprive Esther of her childish eeriness, and give the audience something to clinger on (becuse no child of Christ could ever be capable of killing a nun) ---unless of course of Russian heritage lol, takes this film in a whole different direction. It stops being a horror and turns into "Fugitive" like action, at times reminding me of Hollywood blockbusters. What I'm trying to say is, that all of those things Esther did, automatically become less horrible because we know Esther isn't a child. She is a fully grown, though deranged, woman.

Nevertheless this is a highly well directed, acted movie. All of the actors did their best, with the loop on young Isabelle Durham, who did an extraordinary job and she's only like 14 years old! For fucks sake!

Another thing I wanted to mention is how much Kate reminds me of The Ring character Rachel. Both of them posses that 'been through hell and back' charisma and both of them are fighting for their childrens lives.

Also check put these videos below to really see what I mean ;)

The Shrine (2010)

An American journalist accompanied by her colleague and her photographer boyfriend travel in Poland to unravel the mystery about an american student that has been missing since his trip to a village in Poland. When they get there strange things start happening. They sight a strange cloud of smoke near the village woods and find the same statement mentioning the cloud in missing student's diary (which they recovered from the students mother before the trip) How original, right? Bla bla bla, Poland is a creepy, undeveloped dump, where poor americans find no shelter and are hated by everyone but children who seem to speak english although the village itself does not have electricity or any kind of communication to the rest of the world and therefore America. In spite of villagers warnings and threats not to go near the cloud, they of course, being Americans and therefore smarter than stupid South Eastern European people ignore these remarks and head out to solve the mystery. Little do they know how fucked they're going to be.

Reasons this movie sucks:
1. Poland is actually Canada (the movie was filmed in Canada)
2. they don't speak actual polish in the movie (there are some cardinal mistakes in the pronunciation)
3. that statue in the mist reminds me too much about something I already saw in another movie
4. If we omit the fact that this has a horrible and unoriginal story, the fact that stereotyping characters is one of the main thing the writer uses to develop them, it was enjoyable.

I liked gore moments, which were really innovative, how the movie obviously took inspiration from exorcist like movies and the surprising twist the movie exposed just as I thought of leaving the room. It's worth watching if you're really a big horror fan.

Also if you could somehow cut out the boring parts and only leave the ones where they kill people and exorcise demons that would be awsum!

Btw, haven't seen any other movies by this guy, but I'm thinking about downloading Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007) .

The Woman (2011)

Now this movie is really something. Not sure what it is though, but it sure has a strong message whatever it's message is, cos I sure as hell haven't figured it out. The movie was directed by the all knowing indie director Lucky McKee which was first introduced to us trough his brilliant film May (2002). Like in May, in this movie too, one of the leading actresses is brilliant Angela Bettis who gives an outstanding performance. It also carries an eery atmosphere, which is brought out by a creepy family, isolated surroundings (the action is set mostly on the families ranch) and of course the synopses carried out in style of old school Wes Craven style horror. However, although this movie has a lot of potential and some really cool ways to deal with the lack of budget it lacks the proper character development and at times gets really boring. Also, it has one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard in a horror film in my life. It's not the genre that bothers me, it's the total insignificance of the music to the scene that's currently going on. A major fail. Anyways, although it could use some corrections here and there, it certainly is a fresh story, and if you're a fan of McKee's work you won't miss this movie.

The movie tells a story about a family of five, a father whose aggressive outbursts endanger the whole family, a mother who represents a typical oppressed passive housewife, the oldest child Peg who obviously struggles with her own adolescent problems, a young boy who manifests his fathers behavior in the most sadistic way possible, and the youngest girl.
The father finds a wild woman roaming the woods, captures her, locks her up in the family cellar in attempt to "civilize" her, but of course like in all "psycho family" movies, it turns out to be a sick sadistic game, played out to satisfy needs of a deranged man. The way they carried out those first scenes of preparation for the arrival for the "guest" can clearly tell who's the mastermind behind this gruesome crime. As the movie develops we find out that the father isn't really that good intentioned as he claims to be. Any attempt to diminish his ways ends up in someone (preferably his wife) lying on the floor. At the same time, we can see the effects of his behavior on youngsters. Peg (the eldest one) becomes more and more withdrawn, the boy starts showing more interest in the locked victimized woman in the cellar to the point where he attempts to rape her. This triggers a series of events crucial to unfolding the story.
The Father, being the most important person in the film, manifests almost a caricature-like humorousness, that doesn't make such a good impact on the whole movie that is supposed to be sick and horrifying. Then again, given the fact that this is a Lucky McKee movie, everything is clear, it had to be done so :)
Basically it is a movie about victimization, objectification and oppressiveness of women, so if you're easily offended I wouldn't recommend watching this. Although if you stick with the film till the very end it will be satisfactory.
All in all, it's an average horror movie, nothing spectacular, and Mr. McKee can certainly do better.