THE ORPHAN KILLER (2011) Review

Directed by: Matt Farnsworth

Starring: Diane Foster, David Backus, Matt Farnsworth

"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."


That is the description given on the film's IMDb page and it is absolutely spot-on. This is easily one of the most entertaining movies I've seen this year and has been the only one which delivers on what it promises. The story isn't anything new, in fact it is a lot like Halloween except a lot more brutal.
After the death of their parents in a home invasion, Marcus and Audrey Miller are sent to an orphanage. Marcus is abused and steadily becomes withdrawn and violent. His sister is eventually adopted out, while Marcus is locked away and basically left to rot. Obviously Marcus is not exactly happy with his sister and so he comes to hunt her down and exact his revenge. The whole story is slowly revealed piece by piece through a series of flashbacks.
As you can see the plot isn't very deep or original, but I found that easily forgivable because it's not supposed to be the strong point of the film. THE ORPHAN KILLER's strength lies in the graphic and uncompromising scenes of violence and torture. If you enjoy buckets of blood, brains, amputation and head crushing then you will definitely find a lot to like here. And the quality of the practical effects was great, the blood looked real and a few of the scenes will definitely make some people uncomfortable.


As for acting I didn't notice anything especially great, although Diane Foster as Audrey does a brilliant job in the second half of the film and David Backus as the unstoppable killer Marcus makes for a formidable villain.
The soundtrack is predominantly metal from bands like Walls of Jericho and This is Hell, and even though I wasn't too keen on it while watching the movie, looking back on it now I actually have to admit that it did work fairly well. This is a great film which fans of Laid to Rest and similar movies will definitely appreciate, and it's one of the few movies which I hope will spawn a sequel.
If this sounds like your kind of movie and you like supporting independent films then pick up a copy at the TOK store here.