Horror movies becoming franchises is a tale as old as Hollywood itself. The classic Universal Monsters from the 1930s, kickstarting their own individual franchises (plus crossovers later), are one of the earliest examples of this in action. In the decades since, though, it has only exploded, with the likes of Halloween, Saw, Children of the Corn, and more releasing more than ten movies each. It’s easy to see why this becomes such a common occurrence, as horror movies tend to be cheap to make with a high return at the box office, but the trouble is that sequel after sequel in a series can make the lore complicated and the franchise unstable.
One way to make things even more complicated in a franchise is by delivering a prequel movie, changing the origins once again and admitting the future of the franchise isn’t going to be found by moving ahead. The Conjuring franchise has made a staple out of prequels, though few have proven worthwhile in the slightest; recent hits like Saw X and The First Omen show that it can be done. Today, though, marks the anniversary of perhaps the most surprising horror movie prequel, Orphan: First Kill, a movie that should not work in the slightest but which manages to thread the needle and deliver killer twists. For that reason alone, it needs to be in the conversation for one of the best, and maybe the best ever.
The set-up for why Orphan: First Kill shouldn’t work is simple. Back in 2009, the original horror film debuted, with young actress Isabelle Fuhrman (just twelve years old at the time) starring as the secretly sinister Esther, revealed in the movie to not be a young girl adopted by a loving American family, but a grown woman with a rare hormonal disorder (and murderous tendencies) that makes her look like a child. That film ends in a clear-cut way, with Esther sinking to the bottom of a frozen pond, almost certainly dead.
Not only did the original Orphan have a definitive ending, making a follow-up tough despite a $78 million gross at the box office, but actress Isabelle Fuhrman naturally kept growing. To that end, if there was ever hope for bringing back Esther for more mayhem, it would almost certainly require a new actress….or would it?
These are the hurdles that Orphan: First Kill faced; it had to not only be a prequel (a film that in movie history has seldom delivered a meaningful or interesting story) but its star had grown up and reached adulthood. As a result, the film had to get creative and was able to use these “problems” as a means to inject life into the movie, utilizing camera tricks like forced perspective, makeup, body doubles, and putting Fuhrman’s scene partners in shoes with massive lifts so that they towered over her on camera. On top of the pure practical filmmaking craft that the team had to lean on, they had a twist up their sleeve to make sure that this prequel wasn’t just retelling a story we already knew. (Spoilers follow!)
Orphan ended in a way that many horror films do: the evil defeated and the day saved. As any fan can tell you, that normally means nothing when money is concerned, but in truth this meant a literal dead end for this would-be franchise. To make matters even more fraught for the idea of a prequel, Esther’s backstory was detailed in the original film as well, meaning that some twists needed to be added to make this a story worth telling.
Orphan: First Kill not only adds a twist in the form of how Esther’s backstory unfolds, revealing how the seeds for the original film are planted by her actions there, but also flips the script of the franchise “formula.” In the same way that the original Orphan has Esther adopted by a family, First Kill has her pose as a girl who has been missing for years, featuring Julia Stiles as the family matriarch, clearly stunned by the return of her daughter. This twist puts Esther in the position of having to pretend to be part of a family that they thought might be gone forever, adding layers to Fuhrman’s performance.
The real twist comes halfway through the film, though, when it’s revealed that Stiles’ character is well aware that the real Esther actually died years ago after an encounter with her older brother, Gunnar (Matthew Finlan), which she covered up to protect her son and save her husband from the truth. As a result, she knows that the Esther played by Fuhrman is an imposter, but can’t reveal it without making her own darkest secret public.
All of this gives Orphan: First Kill a distinct shift in tone halfway through, as now every character is hiding something, which leads to the bananas deaths that are a hallmark of the series being amped up to 11. The larger result is that this franchise, which had no future after the first film, has not only proven that it can continue in some form, but that the biggest hurdles it faced could be overcome just by sheer creativity.
Perhaps the best detail, though, is that the success of Orphan: First Kill wasn’t isolated, and a third film, titled Orphans, is on the way. Considering the high bar already set by the filmmakers and Fuhrman, this is quietly proving to be one of the best horror franchises, and one that technically doesn’t have any sequels to boot.
