Director: Christian Alvart (2009)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane
Shockingly not shit and not at all what I thought it would be, Case 39 pits Bridget Jones against a magic child in a spooky thriller that, in terms of quality and content, is somewhere inbetween The Unborn and Drag Me To Hell. Zellweger plays social worker Emily, so taken with abused charge Lilith (Ferland) that she's driven to adopt the mite. It turns out that the brat might have been abused for good reason though, as bad things soon start to happen. Bad things include Doug Bradley and Ian McShane being hassled by animals and poor Renee forced to run down rainy streets in nowt but her underwear. It may interest you to know that she isn't wearing her big Bridget Jones pants in this movie.
As big studio horror movies go, it's a better, darker piece than you might expect and is ably supported by the ever reliable Bradley and McShane (who are to this movie what Gary Oldman and Idris Elba were to The Unborn). Zellweger is fine. It's a better film than that Chainsaw Massacre she screwed up, anyway. Once it kicks off (with a child and a gas oven, no less), Case 39 provides plenty of creepy scenes, some good kill sequences and an enjoyable showdown between mother and demonic child. That said, I did find myself feeling more sorry for the 'evil' brat than I did Whiny Zellweger. After all, it seems like Lilith just wants to be loved (she says as much too). A child is for life, not just Christmas. Even the demonic ones.
Not to mention that double death by fork.
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