Gore Orphanage

Sometimes I watch bad horror flicks to be entertained about how bad they are.

This one is in a league of its own there.

The acting, direction and cinematography are like something a classroom of blind children with advanced syphilis would produce.

Think about it - instead of feeding the hungry or the poor, someone decided to make this steaming pile a fecal matter. Someone COULD have changed someones life for the better and helped humanity but instead made this.

I fear for our nation. And fear that acting teachers are losing on students because apparently they think they can already act.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

This film is essentially mediocre, but it seems like a lot of people have very strong feelings about it. I'm not sure why. It's a low budget horror film with a lot of child actors. That's a potentially dangerous combination and some of the kids are better actors than others. The adults, especially the two female leads, are strong, and the attention to historical detail in the sets and costumes is better than a lot of films with bigger budgets. Maybe people expected blood and guts because "gore" was in the title?

Yes, they needed a bigger budget, but the bad reviews are all from local yokels who just wanted a movie about getting drunk and looking for ghosts. This is something much more subtle about human psychology. Maria Olsen is a horror icon and has some terrifying moments in this role. She's the best part of the film.

We anticipated seeing this movie because it was filmed one block away from our home and we are fans of the genre.

Everything about this movie is so bad, it almost feels like a joke is being played on the viewers. The acting is horrific - like people were pulled off the street, there is no real story line, most kids with an iPad can produce a higher quality of video/audio, & the sound effects are laughable, leaving one waiting for a punchline that never comes.

I had a very difficult time watching the entire film. I kept waiting for some level of complexity, suspense, mystery, or lure of any kind to keep me interested. It never comes.

I applaud anyone who tries to produce something artistic. This doesn't make that cut.

The film is an embarrassment.

The story that Lapisardi and writer Cody Knotts creates is very stoic, cruel, and captivating. I say cruel because the crimes against these-the most vulnerable of humanity-are truly horrific. And Lapisardi, nor Knotts, shy away from telling this cruelty with vivid, chilling bluntness. Now there is a bit of a theatrical Gothic-ism written in, especially with character drawing. For empathetic persons, or those with a soft spot toward child actors, "Gore Orphanage" offers a bit of an extra bit of disturbia. You can"t help but cringe at the duality of fragile innocents against vicious cruelty.

The cast give pretty decent portrayals, there are a few small moments when some of the younger actors seem a bit nervous on camera, but for the most part the characters come alive, and you hate that they are dealing with-yeah I am gonna say it again-such CRUEL circumstance. I keep saying it because the whole time I watched the film all I thought was- "You f*cking cruel bitch! Kill that molester and die!" and "Somebody save those poor children!". Anyway "Gore Orphanage" does deal with some sad subject matter, and presents it with a classic, crestfallen energy.

The special effects are minimal, most of the horror is just in the suggestive nature of the crimes committed against these children, the very auteur presentation of the antagonist matriarch of the film, played by Maria Olsen, and the near slog-styled atmosphere. The soundtrack is more of a simplistic accent that adds context to certain moments, as opposed to films that create an almost companion beast for their stories. Sometimes lack of an all out soundtrack is noticeably missing from a film, however with "Gore Orphanage" the more stripped down, focus on the story, approach really helps to create a chilling, captivating piece of dramatic horror.

Overall "Gore Orphanage" is a decent piece of Gothic melancholia, it will not appeal to those die hard, "scare factor" horror fans that want visceral carnage. It does drag at times as far as energy level and thrills are concerned. It isn't that way through the whole film, and the dark nature of the story, theatrical, almost surreal design of the adult characters in the story, and fate of the children do keep the story entertaining. "Gore Orphanage" is a worthy horror/drama that indie fans will enjoy mostly because it is inspired by two very real, tragic events in history-both of which gave rise to urban legends that still haunt pop culture today.