So much so that she appeared as the same character in a recent prequel, which may have been a not wonderful idea. I not at all certain that the public is seeking an Orphan series.
Others have brought up old verbiage similar to “makes Patty McCormack’s Rhoda in The Bad Seed look akin to one of the kids in The Partridge Family,” but I’ll not go there.
Orphan goes way beyond sweet little Rhoda, to places that you’d never expect.
For some reason I missed this film in its original release. I had the original Universal Blu-ray on my self, and don’t recall ever seeing it or reviewing it. I checked, and the closes I was able to find was Annie, which is a different film.
What’s wonderful about Orphan is that the set up uses so many things that have become horror/thriller tropes over the years – a mirror being opened, and then closed to reveal someone/something suddenly reflected, shock sounds, something running in front of the camera along with a shock sound, along with other attributes of the set-up, that we can be very certain that we’ve been here before.
The reality is that with a single exception of which I can recall, we haven’t.
And it works, and works beautifully.
I found something else shocking about this Scream Factory release of the WB film.
It’s a Blu-ray.
I double checked it.
But from a NSD, especially as finalized with extremely rich, deep blacks and brilliant colors, it appears so close to 4k that I wasn’t certain. I normally have a pretty good idea, but occasionally a Blu-ray just jumps to the fore with all the attributes of it’s higher resolved sibling.
For those who may also have missed this film, I suggest that you pick up a copy of the Scream release. It’s derived from a new scan that’s amazing.
Here’s a link to the great Roger Ebert’s original review. I agree 100% with his thoughts.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/orphan-2009
Image – 10
Audio – 10 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors – Yes
Upgrade from earlier Blu-ray – Yes
Worth your attention – 9
Slipcover rating – 3
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
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