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SummaryIn Case 39, family services social worker Emily Jenkins thinks she has seen it all... until she meets 10-year old Lilith Sullivan and the child's cruel and dangerous parents. Her worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm Lily, their only daughter. Frightened for her life, Emily enlists the help of Detective Mike Barron and takes Li... Read More

Directed By:Christian Alvart

Written By:Ray Wright

Case 39

Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
25
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
25
7% Positive
1 Review
13% Mixed
2 Reviews
80% Negative
12 Reviews
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
70
Movieline
There is enough lurid, ludicrous subtext in the material to keep fans of such things happy. As trash, this is top of the line.
40
Empire
Manages to be both very silly and highly forgettable. Only for those who collect killer-children films.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
53% Positive
60 Ratings
31% Mixed
35 Ratings
16% Negative
18 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Jan 26, 2011
10
giniscanlan
We've watched a few stinkers lately but this one is a great movie. The plot had enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and I think we all know a kid with the potential...
Oct 20, 2010
10
AmberJoe
I loved this movie.. the first movie I've actually gotten into in a long while! Even though it was a little predictable, It was still wonderful.. Definitely one of the best movies in a while. There was one part that looked cheesy... But.. Overall it was a GREAT movie!
30
L.A. Weekly
Has there ever been a more inept trio of big-city caseworkers? Go ahead, Lilith. Unleash the hounds.
30
Los Angeles Times
One can't help experiencing the same dread about the exhausting flood of lackluster horror films that swamp our screens and, as Case 39 unfolds, realizing we're enduring one more.
30
Variety
This ludicrous outing from helmer Christian Alvart ("Pandorum") and scribe Ray Wright ("The Crazies") takes its psycho-satanic babble much too seriously, and should elicit more laughs than frights.
20
Time Out
From a bevy of cheesy jolt scares (alarm clock! barking dog!) to the embarrassing sight of Zellweger and Ian McShane treating this Orphan-style B-movie silliness with grave seriousness, the film proves to be one hokey-horror riot.
12
New York Post
This movie is so self- combustingly bad it could never be good. But it's damn great fun to watch the thing go up in flames anyway.
See All 15 Critic Reviews
Feb 10, 2011
9
MrRizzleSmith
Horror movies all seem kinda lame lately these days. But, this one had me pretty freaked out. I give it a solid 9. There's not much more scary than a young girl possessed by demons, doing freaky **** I liked this movie and not sure why it's gotten such negative reviews. If you're in my same boat that horror movies don't cut it anymore, I would strongly recommend this one. Give it a try, it freaked me out.
May 8, 2013
6
Mad_Hatter91
This film will not be remembered as a great film, but is doing very well! At the end **** thriller fate that, despite some errors, succeeds in its intent. I love how he was treated the theme of fear in the film. This is one of my favorite topics. And then there's also the value of child-devil, even if outside it looks like a good person, innocent and pretty, is evil inside. Do not trust appearances. This argument, however, has already been seen countless times and is a disadvantage in point of the film. Jodelle Ferland is an actress who absolutely need to watch out because he is demonstrating a skill that few have.
Jul 4, 2013
5
Jmsbpp
No mantiene al que la ve en suspenso y miedo todo el tiempo, tiene un desarrollo interesante, misterioso y entretenido, lo malo es un predecible final.
Jul 25, 2013
3
oliver1h
The little girl looked creepy, which is the only good thing about this boring, tried horror formula. Aside of the good casting of the "child", there was no tension, or scary atmosphere in the movie, which is the basic requirement **** horror/psychological thriller. Everything happened as we have already seen it before in other horror movies, so it lacked originality also. The ending was absolutely BAD! Not recommended.
Jun 23, 2013
3
axelkoch
With Case 39 we have another uninteresting psychological horror movie that follows the same formula as many movies of its genre before it. Renée Zellweger’s kindhearted social worker discovers a 10-year-old-girl named Lilith that seems to be heavily mistreated by her parents, yet her superiors don’t let our protagonist interfere until the parents attempt to make dinner out of their offspring. But as it turns out, just because little Lily is freed from her parents, the movie isn’t over. Mysterious things start to happen and Bridget Jones starts to get into real trouble. I was quite skeptic about this movie because after the film was shot, it took three whole years to get it into cinemas. I’m unsure what the reasons for the numerous delays of the release date were, but I suppose it’s got something to do with how bad the movie is. Admittedly, it’s not one of the worst horror movies in any time period and even though it’s about ten minutes too long, I was entertained by it most of the time. However, the movie totally fails at what it’s aiming to be and is just another unrememberable and unsatisfying horror flick. Plus, it contains one of the most ridiculous movie death scenes OF ALL TIME (no exaggeration here, I’m telling you) that seriously dilutes the credibility of the actor in it. And not to forget, its jump scares are even more predictable than the storyline and the ending is a chaotically idiotic water catastrophe similar, yet even less fulfilling, to the one in 2009’s Orphan. Case 39 is not a most outrageous failure and I understood and liked some of the ideas that German director Christian Alvart had. The casting of Lilith was also well done since the girl who plays her manages to bounce likeability and craziness surprisingly good. In fact, she is even better than some of her adult colleagues, *cough* Ian McShane *cough*. This can’t prevent the movie from becoming a stereotypical, overlong, and not really frightening misstep that won’t be remembered by anyone in a couple of weeks, however.
See All 113 User Reviews
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  • Paramount Vantage
  • Misher Films
  • Anonymous Content
  • Case 39 Productions
Oct 1, 2010
1 h 49 m
R
Some cases should never be opened.
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1 Nomination
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Nomination
Fright Meter Awards
• 1 Nomination
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