★ 10 / 10
The Orphan Killer" is a modern slasher horror
R T
"The Orphan Killer" is a modern slasher horror that builds upon the classic elements of psycho killer lore with thoughtful, surreal aesthetics and brutal…
"The Orphan Killer" is a modern slasher horror that builds upon the classic elements of psycho killer lore with thoughtful, surreal aesthetics and brutal blood-spilling force. The film is directed by Matt Farnsworth and stars Diane Foster, David Backus, Matt Farnsworth, James McCaffrey. The film has one of the coolest and cruelest killers in the slasher genre. The story follows Audrey Miller and her homicidally delusional brother Marcus Miller. Siblings whose world is turned upside down by a home invasion that leads to the murder of their parents. Orphaned then separated, the two kids lives lead in very different directions. One prospers in the community while the other becomes a monster of urban legend that haunts the halls of the orphanage. Audrey soon faces her past with excruciatingly painful objectivity.
The story of "The Orphan Killer" is truly a modern, creative one with a new evil stepping up to the horror plate creating a nightmare perfectly framed in the aspects of religious grandiosity. There are certain little moments that take from various elements of the story's slasher genre past that act more to highlight and pay tribute to Matt Farnsworth love of the genre, moments that are best left for the fan to discover than to point out in this review. I just have to say that even though I noticed small moments that are reminiscent of some horror classics, pretty much every aspect of this film has a unique feel and vision all it's own. "The Orphan Killer" does truly offer up a new nightmare killer and powerfully intimidating horror icon.
The acting and visual style of "The Orphan Killer" somehow blends the surreal and American grindcore cinema techniques effortlessly. The continuity and unease of atmosphere that echoes through the film provides a nonstop intense, chilling ride into hell. There were moments in the film I had to look away from the graphic display, not from a weak stomach but because the seen was so intense I needed a moment of relief. The characters in "The Orphan Killer" are straight forward, grounded characters and yet there are some moments in the story that display widely unnatural behavior-but I am not Catholic, nor did I grow up in a Catholic world so I don't know if nuns really fantasize about sucking cock. Maybe they do. Anyway this movie is pretty epic in it's storytelling, artistic style and character integrity both with the killer and the protagonist.
"The Orphan Killer" is truly one of those great indie horror films that gets it all right. The story is morbid, dark and intense. The acting and action is thrilling from almost the word go. The kill sequences and special effects are gruesome and realistically unsettling. The soundtrack rocks and the The Orphan Killer himself is a true, terrifying force of evil that isn't easily forgettable. This film is definitely one to see for all horror fans.
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★ 5 / 10
OK time waster, but not nearly as good as the creators would like it to be.
Just_Killing_Time
Director Matt Farnsworth and his team have been very busy in the past few years trying to create some internet buzz around their latest picture The Orphan…
Director Matt Farnsworth and his team have been very busy in the past few years trying to create some internet buzz around their latest picture The Orphan Killer (originally titled Sibling: Marcus Miller The Orphan Killer, a title they wisely abandoned). Through online blogs and Facebook presence, they tried to get genre fans excited for Marcus Miller and his murderous endeavors. Proclaiming their movie "a tour de force murder flick that defies classification, goes far beyond current trends in gore and breaks open a new suffering genre of horror", they set expectations pretty high.
Audrey (Diane Foster) is a young ballet instructor at a very catholic high school. The building used to house an orphanage, were Audrey and her brother spent part of their childhood after seeing their parents brutally slain by a gang of thugs. This tragic event left Marcus with a few screws in his head severely loose, while Audrey remained an adorable little angel and thus easily adoptable. So while Audrey was quickly taken away towards a happy life of Barbie-dolls and tea parties, Marcus was left in the orphanage, where the good Lord's sisters tried to knock some sense into the disturbed little boy, Old Testament style. All grown up (and looking pretty hot), Audrey has forgotten all about her sibling, who over the years has turned into a gruesome urban legend. But now brother dearest is back with an impressive arsenal of sharp pointy objects and a chip on his shoulder the size of a small European country.
Now here's a horror movie that could have been really, really good, but simply, well
isn't. Marcus Miller's back story is fleshed out very well, as are the long flashbacks that tell us his tragic tale. Farnsworth creates a great villain with tons of potential, but doesn't know where to go with him. For the first 45 minutes, Marcus Miller is a stumbling, mumbling, growling, snorting, speechless behemoth of the Jason Voorhees variety. In fact, this part of the movie plays out as a later Friday the 13th sequel, with Miller offing various insignificant characters in not that innovative but rather gory ways. We are never even introduced to most of these characters; they are merely there to up the body count while Miller chases Audrey through the halls and corridors of the school for what seems like forever. Around the half way mark, when Audrey and Marcus start interacting face to face, our killer suddenly turns into an intelligent, one-liner spouting sadist, that goes all Jigsaw on his sister and various others. This is where the movie shines (although it doesn't really fit in with Miller's back story (in the flashbacks, the creepy little boy doesn't utter a word)), but it is over too soon and makes way for a pretty cliché final sequence.
While the kill scenes are all pretty okay, Farnsworth hasn't got a clue how the build any sense of dread or suspense, which makes the first part of the movie way overlong. It basically is just padding to stretch the movie into feature length. The same goes for some long but pointless birds-eye-view scenes of a city and a character driving a car, that serve no other purpose than broadcasting to the audience 'Look! Look how cool we are! We are filming from a friggin' Helicopter! How cool is that! Pretty darn cool, that's how cool!" Seems to me they could have better spent this budget on some of the special effects or set design, that is at points shaky at best. The same goes for some of the hand held camera-work. Viewers prone to seasickness need not apply.
The soundtrack almost completely consists of snippets of metal and hardcore songs. Totally my kind of music, but at points this approach is really inappropriate, especially during the flashback scenes. A bloody victim crawling up a flight of stairs to Walls of Jericho's melodramatic power balled 'No Saving Me' is unintentionally hilarious. There are more pieces of small ridiculousness. A human head that gets stomped on does not act like a deflating rubber ball, folks. And Marcus walking away from a rather bloody kill with an immaculately clean shirt, fold creases still in it like it just came from the wrapper, is side splittingly funny and incredibly stupid at the same time.
I've been pretty harsh on The Orphan Killer so far, when in fact I did have a pretty good time watching it. It's a decent little slasher, somewhat above average. More emphasis on the interaction between Marcus and Audrey would have helped a lot and I would have loved to have seen more of that awesome back story (where is Marcus' killing spree in the orphanage that made him a legend to begin with?). As it stands, a horror and gore fan could find less fun ways to spend 84 minutes than watching some dripping brains, dismemberment and pretty rad full frontal female nudity. However, "a tour de force murder flick that defies classification, goes far beyond current trends in gore and breaks open a new suffering genre of horror" this is not. Not by a long shot.
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★ 3 / 10
What a complete and ridiculous waste of time!
FlopHouseDK
Wow! Where do I start!? I've given this movie three stars - one for trying, another for putting together a movie despite what I hope is a very low budget and…
Wow! Where do I start!?
I've given this movie three stars - one for trying, another for putting together a movie despite what I hope is a very low budget and the third for the girl, who we get to see naked.
Besides that, the movie is a complete and ridiculous waste of time! There're SO many strange mistakes that it's hard not to laugh at the end.
When the boyfriend enters the apartment, we see him hang his belt and gun on the door. Seconds later, however, he is carrying it in his hands as he searches the apartment for Audrey!?
Despite having been hung from the ceiling in barbed wires around her wrists and ankles, Audreys feet are almost completely clean when she finally escapes!? This is not the only time when blood stains are moved or altered by miracle...
When trying to flee the basement, where she's been held captured, she has no problems walking - although slowly. However, at the end when she has to climb the stairs to the roof, she suddenly has to drag herself up the stairs!? Add to this that for some reason, this is also the place where the wound from the tool in her thigh suddenly starts leaking blood!?
Although she hits her brother several times in the head with the hammer in the basement, which results in blood pouring from the scull crazily, he's still able to wake up and catch up with her on the roof!?
What's up with the mask her brother is wearing!? Do it have a hole for the mouth or not!? Sometimes not - if so, how is he able to whistle when walking through the hallways!? Why does the mouth seldom move!? Why is the tone of his voice so deep - almost like a TV announcer!?
Argh! This movie is just an utterly waste of time!
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45%
AUDIENCE
3.9/10
1.9K
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Good gore. Thank you very much for the Christmas present, I had an avi.