Case 39 (2009)

I've never had before a horror as a blog entry before Christmas and I don't know if that's really the best option in keeping with the holidays spirit :) but this is pretty much all I have on hand as a subject. "Case 39" is a film based on the same idea as in the classic "The Omen", or in the newest (although I didn't see it yet) "Orphan". For who didn't watch those movies, as a basic info, the action here starts with a girl from a family with some "issues" (see below) who is taken in care by a social assistance worker. So ... for anyone who has seen the mentioned films, this would be already a huge spoiler related to where the movie "goes", therefore I won't say more about the subject :).

One thing to be mentioned is that the movie is probably an example to be followed in terms of the graphic violence quantity for a horror (at least for my taste). Honestly, thinking on current period examples categorized as "horror" like "Saw" or "The Descent" to mention two of them, I am actually surprised that "Case 39" got the same genre listing on IMDb (I can remember that "Frailty" is not placed in this "area", and even if it is mainly a thriller you can not say that it doesn't at least try to give you the chills if not more). To synthesize the idea, you won't see much more violent scenes than the ones in the trailer - neither regarding the intensity nor quantitatively speaking.

And yet, even without the tons of spilled red paint ... it is a horror :) ... Because you have that feeling / atmosphere that is not so easy to grasp lightly when watching it. Unfortunately this is not true for the whole movie length, being fragmented with scenes that for me at least were pretty hilarious - something that eventually may not be that bad ( especially if you see the movie alone and late at night :) ). It really depends on how seriously you take into consideration what you see. Or maybe even on your mood when you watch it - an example ( without many details :) ) - there's a scene at some point related with those "family problems" I mentioned in the beginning - namely the girl's mother and father decide to show their parental warmth by literally placing the child in the oven (don't worry the scene is much more lighter than it sounds). Well anyway ... :) ... if you're worried, sick, tired, or I do not know what non-positive state of mind you might have, the scene - or at least the background idea - might not come very easy, but if you're relaxed and took a detached cool stance on watching the movie, what I described might actually seem funny in the context :) (well, some dark sense of humor required here)

The worst part of the film and that will be reflected in the final rating, although I am strongly subjective on this ( I can not help it :) ) is .. Renee Zellweger. I don't like her and that's it ... I don't know. As I said, is a subjective view ... but I really think that they could have found somebody else to make a better role. On the other hand, the actress who plays the child part - Jodelle Ferland is on the opposite side = I think I might associate her with that type of character every time I'm gonna see her again. Another thing to be mentioned would be the directing part. Even if the scenario might be a little flawed on some places, like not really believable or seeming somehow forcefully shortened, in fact leaving the impression of some holes in the subject ... the direction saves the script quite often. And for that part I think I can say from now on that I'm a fan of Christian Alvart - the same one who was also behind "Pandorum" (which is definitely better quality, but you can feel the director's touch here also).

I don't know if there is something else I can say ... It surely isn't the greatest horror I ever watched but anyway it was more than I expected and besides that, you can see it without having to reduce red hue from the screen color parameters :).

Rating: 3 out of 5