The Orphan Killer (2011)

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 82 MINS
WRITERS- MATT FARNSWORTH
STARRING- DIANE FOSTER, DAVID BACKUS AND MATT FARNSWORTH




Synopsis taken from IMDb
The Orphan killer is a tour de force murder flick that defies classification. It goes far beyond current trends in gore and breaks open a new suffering genre of horror. Marcus Miller is a serial murderer hellbent on teaching his estranged sister Audrey what it means to have family loyalty. His lessons are taught in massive doses of vulgar and unimaginable pain. Throughout her brutal torture we learn that Marcus is not the only Miller with killer in the bloodline as Audrey proves to be a formidable adversary.




Let me start off by saying that it extremely annoys me how every slasher film that comes out blatantly advertises how they're the new Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers. Lets be honest, you're not even close to being on the same level as them. Here are guys who kick-started a genre that lasted decades both with sequels and with the mark they've left on the industry. So for people to think that they're going to erase them or outdo them is blasphemy and it hasn't happened yet, and that includes this movie. Everywhere I read of this film I read of how the film makers claim The Orphan Killer is better than all others and they need to step down because there's a new guy in town etc...

This movie was good, but to be even close to Michael, Freddy and Jason you have to be legendary and this film wasn't legendary, nor was the killer legendary. I remember when Midnight Movie (2008) came out everyone said that the killer would do the same. The only horror film icon to even come close to the originators is Victor Crowley from Hatchet. And Victor Crowley is basically a rip-off Jason Voorhees, but is forgivable because it's a throwback and done in the right way.

So other than annoying me with it's ballsy reference to being the new "big dog" in town, I thought the movie was decent. I saw a trailer for it a long time ago and thought it didn't look good at all, so I wasn't sure if I would ever give this a shot. So finally the time came when I saw fit to give this a watch. And I was surprised to see how it was unmistakably better than I originally expected.

This particular movie doesn't have very good acting, but they make it work. It's apparent that this is a low budget film, and everyone knows I'm down with low budget horror films. I believe it doesn't take money to make a good movie, it takes heart and the ability to make a good movie. The budget and acting are forgivable.

The flashback scenes of The Orphan Killer as a child are very well done and actually appear in higher quality both film and acting wise,  than the recent scenes of him grown up. The flashback scenes were probably the best part of the movie for me.

The killer has this breathing noise he makes that is perfectly scary, it's a creepy way for you to know he's coming for you. I liked this aspect of the character alot and thought it was one of those things that either works or doesn't and they seem to have found the solution. It was pulled off well.

However, I did not like how he talked, it came off like a cheap movie, one of the few things they could have avoided to not lessen the tone of the movie. I think the talking aspect either shouldn't have been there or there should have been a different voice they used. Maybe that of a child, like him talking as himself when he was a child. Something creepier than what was executed.

I didn't care for the mask however, I didn't find it scary at all, but it did tie in with the story so I don't mind it. But I think they could have found a better face to put on the killer.

The plot was somewhat generic and could have had more work/thought put into it to make the story more complex and layered. There was absolutely some originality to this film and its plot, but some of that gets over shadowed by how simple it is.

The gore was good, there was alot of blood and good kills. Some were downright brutal, this guy is ruthless and one makes for a hell of a villain. He's not supernatural, he can just take alot of punishment and keep going, making him appear supernatural. By doing this you can see how they tried to make him like Voorhees and Myers and Krueger, but that doesn't make him them. Not even close. No one can be then so trying is a failure.

The Orphan Killer isn't as iconic of a killer as Jason, Michael or Freddy as the promoters claim. But it is entertaining and a decent slasher flick well done with it's resources.

I didn't love the movie but I appreciated it, I've seen far worse that's for certain.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPERS OUT OF 4