Product Details

• Actors: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett
• Directors: Jaume Collet-Serra
• Format: Color, Special Edition, Widescreen, Subtitled, Dubbed
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0021L8UQ2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,317 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Orphan [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A bad seed with a Russian accent, 9-year-old Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is a nasty little girl with a nasty little plan. Unfortunately, this malevolent tyke has landed in the home of adoptive parents Kate and John (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard), an unsuspecting couple with two kids of their own and considerable grief over recent family tragedies. It doesn't take long for Esther to make her creepy presence known, as broken limbs on the playground and torched tree houses can attest. Give this movie some credit--the psychological underpinnings are all set carefully in place: Maternal trauma? Check. Backyard pond as emotionally charged danger zone? Check. Feminist parable about husbands not listening to troubled wives? Check. The casting of reputable actors such as Farmiga and Sarsgaard also ups the movie's class quotient; Farmiga in particular has an emotional workout, and this gifted actress strikes few false notes even as the scenario becomes increasingly lurid. (There's some déjà vu here: Farmiga also played a mother realizing her kid was "not right" in Joshua, a much superior film.) Director Jaume Collet-Serra, of House of Wax notoriety, knows full well the unsettling weirdness of seeing a child commit murderous mayhem, and he presses all the buttons with something like unholy joy. The movie begins to drive off the rails even before a clumsy twist hits the fan near the end, and at that point, the mechanical exercise becomes downright silly. The Omen's Damien has nothing to worry about. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Tragedy seems to follow nine-year-old Esther. She was orphaned in her native Russia. Her last adoptive family perished in a fire Esther barely escaped. But now the Coleman family has adopted her, and life is good. Until a classmate takes a serious fall from a slide. Until an orphanage nun is battered to death. And until Esther’s new mom wonders if that tragic fire was an accident. From Dark Castle Productions comes Orphan, bringing stunning new twists to the psychological thriller and locking audiences in a tightening vise of mystery, suspicion and terror. You’ll never forget Esther. So sweet. So intelligent. So creative. So disturbed.

Features:
- Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children: cast and crew reinvent the evil kid genre and discuss notable movie psychopaths
- Additional scenes, including an alternate ending
- BD-Live features

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good and Intense, November 22, 2009

By 

E. Hibbard "ellascissorhands22" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orphan (DVD)

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought "Oh God, another one of those movies." But I was surprised that after I'd gone and seen it, I'd actually thoroughly enjoyed it.

Isabelle Fuhrman is the "orphan"; that is, 9-year-old Esther who seems a little strange and morbid despite the adopted parents instance attraction to her. When violent events began taking place that are connected to Esther, the parents began to suspect that there is more to the little girl than appears.

Fuhrman definitely was the right choice for the role of Esther; she has an attractive face and her youth doesn't strain her acting abilities which were very convincing. I won't lie though; the movie was very grisly, and even I had to turn away from the screen a few times. Even the twist ending really shocked me, and I'm not easily shocked. I really think that despite how it looks, give it a shot, because it wasn't a bad little movie. It was well acted, well thought out, and seriously creepy.

44 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Isabelle Fuhrman Drives This Tense Suspense Thriller!, October 28, 2009

By 

Dana E. McIntyre "Spotlight Review" (Oakland, CA - USA -) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orphan (DVD)

I saw this film when it opened on July 24, 2009. Mixed reviews from fans and critics were the usual flair upon its release, but something struck me about this movie. The film went on to gross $37 million at the box-office despite the thrashing it took from critics, but everyone couldn't help but notice the Oscar-nomination worthy performance of its 12-year-old star Isabelle Fuhrman. I just viewed the film on DVD for the first time since its theaterical run and I'm still seeing just how riveting and engaging this movie really is.

"Orphan" is NOT a horror film. It's more along the lines of a SUSPENSE THRILLER. When I think of horror films, I think of sex-crazed teenagers being sliced up one-by-one by a machete-wielding maniac (Jason Voorhies, Freddy Krueger, Micheal Myers, etc.). The only real weapons wielded here is just a hammer, a knife, and a .38-caliber pistol. You think scary when it comes to horror films and "Orphan" isn't scary. Has some frightful moments, yes, but scary? Wishful thinking!

Set in the winter-bound parts of Conneticut & Canada, the story centers on the Coleman family: Kate (Vera Farmiga), a Yale University music teacher recovering from alcoholism and bouts of depression after having a stillborn from her third pregnancy; John (Peter Sarsgaard), an architech whose nice guy persona overshadows his increasing issues with Kate that led to past affairs; Max (Aryana Engineer), their deaf 5-year-old daughter who communicates through sign language and their oldest son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), who feels bitterly neglected & increasingly isolated from his parents. As a way of coping with the loss of their would-be 2nd daughter, Jessica, and to amend their existence as a family, Kate & John make a fateful decision to adopt a young girl at the local orphanage.

It is here where they meet Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a sweet-looking 9-year-old Russian girl harboring some deep-seeded issues of her own despite her angelic smile and sympathetic mannerisms. Upon arriving home with new stepdaughter in tow, a series of events unravel to make everyone question the background and sincerity of this little girl. Daniel dislikes her immediately, Max forms an unhealthy bond with her new stepsister, Kate begins to seek out further information about Esther's background, & John just plays Devil's Advocate with all that occurs involving Esther. What's wrong with Esther? Is it true that behind the smile of this little angel beats the heart of a psycho killer?

The answer, and the big secret about who she really is, lies within the confines of this 123-minute thriller. I agree with everyone here that it moves at a near-torturous snail's pace, that being the film's major fatal flaw. But the story itself is so entralling and engaging, you can't help but to excuse that misfire. Fuhrman's performance alone keeps you involved in the twists and turns entrenched here. Only a young, superbly talented actress like Fuhrman was able to pull off a psychological undertaking of switching from sympathetic manipulator to disturbed sadist and it's why I feel she should've gotten an Oscar nod. But due to the overall dislike of the film itself from most critics and for her young age, she didn't get anywhere near sniffing distance of the balloting.

Nonetheless, I was so inspired by this film and became such a fan that I created my own 20-song, hard-rock CD Mix (liner notes & all) of songs inspired by the movie (my own psuedo-soundtrack, if you will, but John Ottman's score was cool). Seemingly destined to go down as a cult favorite, if not a classic, "Orphan" was a solid & enjoyable thrill ride that's essentially "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", "The Good Son", "The Crush", and a more mean-spirited version of "Problem Child" all rolled into one. That's why this movie isn't a horror despite being classified as one. This film has a depth, substance, and intuitiveness to it that Jason, Micheal, & Freddy couldn't touch with a bloddy axe. Just take sweet, little Esther home and let her hold you, thrill you, kiss you, .... kill you!!! Can someone out there please say "CULT CLASSIC"? - DEM -

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Fine Acting From A Solid Cast! Great Story!, January 6, 2011

By 

SICK PRAWN "IDIOT CRITIC 24/7" (HELL'S GATE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orphan (DVD)

I love the pro-adoption commentary before this movie. It's a PSA of sorts telling you that all orphans are not bad kids and the following movie is not based in fact. I don't see why that was necessary, but it is humorous to think that anyone would believe this film is non-fiction.

The children in this movie are believable and they carry much of the films weight. Isabelle Fuhrman is spectacular in her performance. She is nothing like a young, wooden MacCauley Calkin who often seemed to be reading directly from a cue card (see Home Alone). Dad thinks she is innocent and sweet, but she secretly trys to destroy the dynamics of the family. As her character evolves and we learn more and more about her, she loses that sweet exterior and we see her for the murderous little heathen that she really is. Her language is very graphic at times, but not without purpose.

The entire cast were fine in their roles. The parents, and their need of another child seemed very convincing. The flow of the film from beginning to end makes for a great thriller that I highly recommend to all. It's not the same old typical slasher film with the same typical ending... and the acting is superb!

Thank you for reading....