Renée Zellweger

Jodelle Ferland

Ian McShane

Bradley Cooper

Adrian Lester

Kerry O'Malley

Callum Keith Rennie

Cynthia Stevenson

Alexander Conti

Philip Cabrita

Vanesa Tomasino

Mary Black

Domenico D'Ambrosio

Benita Ha

J. Winston Carroll

Michael Bean

Lesley Ewen

David Patrick Green

Dee Jay Jackson

Taya Calicetto

Alisen Down

Darryl Quon

Suzanne Bastien

Jane Braithwaite

Colin Lawrence

Fran Gebhard

Dagmar Midcap

Bill Mondy

Andrew Airlie

Sarah-Jane Redmond

Charles Zuckermann

Yvonne Valdez

Paul Duchart

Daniel Bacon

Darren E. Scott

Dalias Blake

Phillip Mitchell

Fulvio Cecere

Lisa Bruce

Kevin Misher

Mark Goldblatt

Alix Madigan

Scott Thaler

Hagen Bogdanski

Steve Golin

Ray Wright

Michl Britsch

Christian Alvart

Monique Prudhomme

Sarah Halley Finn

Randi Hiller

Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle

Rob Hayter

Kim Howey

Ernie Jackson

Jon Kralt

Mark Aisbett

Ed Anders

Crystal Dalman

Corry Glass

Ryan Ennis

Mike Crestejo

Mike Desabrais

David Halliday

Doug Chapman

Dean Choe

Duane Dickinson

David Jacox

Caroline Field

Tom Glass

Laura Lee Connery

Gaston Morrison

Matt Phillips

John MacDonald

Justin Sain

Clay Virtue

Shelley Maclean

Terrance Leigh

Kimani Ray Smith

Bryan Arenas

Darryl Scheelar

Michael Langlois

Gerald Paetz

Scott Nicholson

Rick Pearce

Yasamin Ismaili

Chris Wells

Joshua Cordes

Collette Nunes

Steven Hodgson

Andrea French

Paul Furminger

Steve Tushar

John Willett

Ross Dempster

Ronald Eng

David Sosalla

Erik Liles

David Crone

Peter Grace

Chris Watts

Carie Wallis

Steve Reintjes

Doug Jackson

Karl Herrmann

Harvey LaRocque

Travis J. Brooks

Wayne Bennett

Daniel J. Leahy

Marny Eng

Thomas Nittmann

Edson Williams

Jim Van Dijk

Chris Roff

John Burke

Jason Claridge

Bob Comer

Shauna Bryn

Craig Calvert

Lisa Jaime

Kimberly French

Steve Ansell

John O'Toole

Julia Frittaion

Danielle de Smit

Danny McWilliams

Grant Swain

Jon Lavender

Robin Harlan

Willard Overstreet

David A. Cohen

Sarah Monat

Randy Singer

Bob Baron

Dana LeBlanc Frankley

Cameron Foodikoff

Horror

Mystery

Thriller

Case 39

Paramount Vantage

Misher Films

Anonymous Content

Case 39 Productions

Canada

United States of America

English

child abuse

social worker

detective

office

supernatural

murder

mental institution

cityscape

drawn

falling elevator

pier

super power

deadly

Keep Away From Children.

Case 39 is directed by Christian Alvart and written by Ray Wright. It stars Renee Zellwegger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane and Bradley Cooper. Music is by Michl Britsch and cinematography by Hagen Bodanski.

Another in the long line of demonic/psycho children films, Case 39 sat on the shelf for a few years before finally seeing the light of day around 2009. Met with a whole bunch of negative reviews it is somewhat pleasing to find that while it’s not a misunderstood classic or anything, it actually works well within this sub-genre of horror.

Story in short order form has Zellwegger as Emily Jenkins, a social worker who after rescuing young Lilly Sullivan from crazed parents, takes her in on a temporary foster basis and soon comes to regret it.

Offering up a more supernatural slant than many other films of a similar ilk, German director Alvart does still follow the familiar formula for crazed child movies. Lillith (unsubtle name or what?!) serenely ingratiates herself into Emily’s world and that of the people around her, then of course things start happening, bad things. Having taken his time to build it up during the first half, Alvart then revels in unleashing demonic chaos, with young Ferland giving an unnervingly superb performance as Lilly. The shocks and psychological torments are tidily crafted, and it all builds to a suitably daft and frenetic finale.

It’s too long at nearly two hours in length, it’s sometimes silly and it’s cliché heavy. However, some striking scenes, a mightily strong child performance and the decent chiller thriller fun factor, lifts this just above average status. 6/10

Reno

**Just do your job! Don't think above that like you can be a saviour!**

It looked like some kind of thriller, that's what anybody would say if they read the title correctly. The story was suspense, well developed to keep that for a very long time. Though it had no major twist, just a revelation like clarifying our doubts. Because most of the storyline seems alike 'Orphan', the film that came just months before this one. But this is a horror theme, I mean real horror, not a terror-horror like 'Orphan'. The overall story relied on one big secret that revealed at some time in the final act.

I have seen many films about the child abuse, and this one set in as a same kind of theme, but takes a turn during the end of the first act. So when a social worker, Emily, finds a ten year old Lilith was abused by her own parents, she takes her away from them, followed by theirs arrest. Later, Emily adopts Lilith, but soon finds some strange events around her circle. That leads to suspect Lilith, but could not prove anything. Finding the truth becomes her first priority, but how she's going to solve it is what leads us to the conclusion part.

I haven't seen Renee Zellweger in any recent films, she looked so good in this. Jodelle Ferland too was good as a little girl, the most important role in the film. But Bradley Cooper was in a small part. I think it was a decent film, but not a fresh theme, except developed differently with a new cast. If you are a big horror film fan, you might disappoint with it. Because those parts were minimised and the suspense was maximised. Yet surely most of us can easily predict many scenes, event the ending. So I conclude my review saying it is a decent watch.

_6.5/10_

CASE 39 Trailer HD allhorrornews.blogspot.com

Case 39( 2009)

Some cases should never be opened.

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A review by John Chard

Written by John Chard on Thu Jul 03 2014

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