摘要：Jaume Collet-Serra’s new film Orphan (2009), released by Warner Brothers Pictures, explores the familiar territory of the psycho-child thriller, joining earlier examples such as The Bad Seed (1956), The Omen (1976), and The Good Son (1993). And despite participating in such a well-established horror film tradition, director Collet-Serra and his screenwriters, David Johnson and Alex Mace, manage to squeeze new blood from an old cinematic stone by offering a disturbing, albeit unique, twist on the traditional evil-child plot. In their attempt, however, both to revitalize and to distance themselves from this genre, they offer a plot development so ridiculous that, while it may initially provoke laughter at the filmmakers’ ability to strain credulity, it will also leave many viewers disappointed, frustrated, and angered by their shameless reliance on harmful prejudices and dangerous stereotypes about disabled children.
