4. Orphan
The creepy child subgenre has been revisited again and again that to expect a film like Orphan to bring anything new to the table seems a bit naive. Marketed on an unguessable twist and bearing all the hallmarks of a generic horror (isolated house, loving couple with only one half wise to what's going on and a permanently foreboding tone) I was pleasantly surprised when the final film turned out to be a little gem. The central performance from Isabelle Fuhrman is a key part of the Orphan's success. Only twelve at the time of the films release she was naturally going to be able to channel the pure innocence to make the conceit work, but proved equally as capable at convincing us she was actually a mid-thirties Russian mental patient. It was this element that really helped me overlook some of the issues that irked others; false scares are painfully present. For general audiences Orphan was stuck in an unfortunate middle ground - too slow paced for those wanting blood and jumps and a little too conventional for experienced horror fans - but watched for what it is theres a lot to enjoy. My only real complaint is the third act makes the big mistake of devolving into a killer rampage, a cliché too far; an intriguing alternate ending has cute Esther get dressed up for the police, ready to deny the horrors shes just unleashed.