Case 39

by Gary Barnidge on October 5th, 2010

Case 39 is about a social worker (Renee Zellweger) who saves a girl named Lilith from parents who were trying to send her to Hell and decides she will take her into her home and watch after her until a foster family can be found.

The film doesn’t really stand apart from other horror movies due to the fact that many of the scenes they use have already been used in previous movies. The hell hounds hail from The Omen; The buckling and banging of the doors from The Haunting; demonic possession from The Exorcist; The wasps from Candyman; and the cursed phone call from The Ring and One Missed Call.

Renee Zellweger doesn’t deliver a believable performance as a social worker or even being scared at times because she has the same facial expression throughout the whole movie which doesn’t help you relate to what the character is feeling. I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but did Zellweger’s voice seem to be extra high pitched throughout the movie? At times her voice was so high pitched it was distracting and took away from the movie but at other times her voice was normal and it didn’t really make much sense to why her voice fluctuated throughout the film. Jodelle Ferland who plays Lilith delivers a chilling and menacing little girl. At times in the film Jodelle shows a very adult like presence in the film in the way she delivers her character and embraces the scary side of herself.

Christian Alvart directed the movie and the only other movie people may have heard of would be Pandorum which was another psychological thriller in its own terms. This movie wasn’t similar to his other movie except for the psychological aspect. The film is shot in a simple way which doesn’t really keep you to engaged in the film. There is one scene where Lilith is being asked questions and she twists everything around the other person and you start to see the true side of the girl which does deliver a chilling moment in the film.

All in all I expected a little more from the movie. It was full of scenes that have already been seen in other horror films and the acting wasn’t up to par with the exception of Jodelle who I feel had a remarkable performance.

5.5 out of 10

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