Case 39

Here is my review of Case 39! Enjoy! For the video trailer, follow this link! If you don't see this movie, you will not be missing out on anything!

 Case Closed

A scary movie should be one where the audience grips onto their cup holders so tight that the whites of their knuckles show; one where the audience jumps into the lap of whomever they brought along to share the experience; one where everyone in the theater is sitting on the edge of their seats, with bulging eyes. A scary movie should be fast-paced with suspense in every second. It should not be slow, boring, and making a person want to go fill up the popcorn bucket or use the bathroom. Case 39 was not a scary movie. Come to think of it, the last real scary movie I have seen in the last ten years was Paranormal Activity. Only one scary movie in ten years, something needs to change.

Renée Zellweger plays Emily Jenkins, a social worker. She works with children who may be abused, neglected, abandoned, etc. by their parents. She seems to love her job, yet groans at the amount of cases piling up on her desk. Before Lilith Sullivan (nickname Lily and played by Jodelle Ferland) comes into her life, she has 38 cases. Lily is case 39, hence the title. Lily shows no signs of abuse, but signs of neglect. Her parents act ashamed and frightened of their daughter, and also downright crazy at the beginning. Only does it come out that of course, her parents are not the crazy ones, Lily is.

This movie fits the description of the uncanny, little kid who acts all innocent, but turns out to be a freak-killer, kind of movie. After Lily’s parents attempt to kill her by burning her in the oven, Emily rescues and fosters her. At first, things are perfect. It was like Matilda all over again. However, things take a turn for the worse. Emily’s close friends start dying. Doug, played by Bradley Cooper, dies by a sudden attack of bees coming out of his ears, eyes, and mouth; as if that could ever happen. Mike (Ian McShane), a police officer, kills himself while trapped in his car with a police dog. Emily realizes that Lily is a demon, killing off the people close to Emily. Emily devises a plan to kill Lily, because obviously she must die. The ending left me stumped and scratching my head for answers.

For the most part, the plot was not as bad as expected. If the child was not a demon and did not kill people by swarming bees or being caught in the car with a police dog, it could have some potential. The previews made it seem as if Lily had demons chasing her, not that she herself was a demon. The ending was predictable; the girl is a demon and is killing off everyone the protagonist loves, someone must kill her! That is exactly what happens, in that order, too. The movie was slow. The first hour dragged. I actually looked at my watch over four times. I jumped at only one part, which was in the previews for Paranormal Activity 2. Towards the end, the movie sped up because everyone knew that Lily would die, it was just a matter of how and when. The movie also left many things unsaid and had unnecessary details. For instance, Lily had friends in her therapy sessions, held by Doug, before he died. One time, she whispered into another girl’s ear. We never found out what was said. Another instance is the fact that Mike accuses Lily of telling her friend Diego to kill his parents. It was never fully said if that happened or not. When Lily lived with her parents, her father was building a huge, coffin-shaped hole in the basement. Was this for Lily after they killed her? An inappropriate, unnecessary element was that Emily herself started to act crazy. When she locked herself in her room away from Lily, all of a sudden this random, bloody woman started chasing Emily. It made no sense and if I had been the director, I would cut that out.

The director casted Jodelle Ferland perfectly; she was a beautiful girl, who acted as if she wanted someone to love and to be loved back. However, when she needed to be creepy, she did it. Renée Zellweger was not extraordinary, but played the part. Bradley Cooper, for not being the star, did an okay job, too. Ian McShane played a great policeman. It was unfortunate that he died.

Case 39 could have been a scary movie, if the director added scary parts. It was not realistic enough to even be near frightening. However, it was not the worst movie I have ever seen. I would definitely not waste ten dollars to see it in the theater, though. The movie needed more work before it was released. Wait for it to come on DVD. Even then, there will be a better one to rent.