O Orfanato

As a child Laura was in an orphanage until she was adopted young. Years later she has returned to the building with her husband and adopted child Simón with the aim of making it both their home and also a place for the care of special children.. Simón has his own challenges, one of which is his reliance on imaginary friends, but when he claims to have met one in particular, Tomás, things take a very dark turn for the worse.

After a few weeks of listening to mark Kermode praising this film, I got myself along to a cinema to see it. What I found was not the amazing, earth-shattering film that some had claimed – but this is a common thing for good foreign films, they tend to be extra praised because they are foreign. Don't let my sentences put you off though because this is a very effective and enjoyable ghost story. Director Bayona uses the devices that you'll have seen other films of the same ilk using but the thing is he does it really well. The creeping camera is used several times without a related payoff, producing a constant air of tension that is almost a relief (in a perverse way) when a proper scare does come. As many others have said it is very unnerving rather than gory, with slow movement replacing jump scares and so on, all to good effect.

The story is no slouch either and it is built on the desperation of Laura and the loss of her treasure. This puts a very human heart to the ghost story, engaging the viewer and making it easier for scepticism to be put to one side, even if only for a few hours. The narrative carries a satisfying arch that is ultimately as tragic as it is "happy" and as relatable as it fantastic. To put it another way, when a specific scare was not happening/about to happen, I was still interested in what was happening and boredom never occurred. The cast deliver well too. Rueda is the heart of the film and she is convincing throughout. Cayo's Carlos is a lot less important but he plays his character well. Príncep's Simón is the right kid for the job as his matter-of-fact lack of fear adds to the story. The rest of the child cast are weaker but mostly their creepy silent presence is all that is required.

The Orphanage is not anything new or brilliant then but it is very efficient and effective. The story is a strong base for a consistently creepy air that is expertly delivered by Bayona, who makes it all look easy.

Let me begin by saying I DON'T like horror movies. I don't enjoy jumping in my seat. I don't like being afraid of the dark for the next 2 days, and I usually HATE Spanish movies. So usually I only see the big horror classics, and that is because I've read enough spoilers to confront the movie in a laid-back way.

Having said this, I was dragged to see this movie against my will. And I was right! I have never, EVER, been more uneasy, uncomfortable on any movie, from the Exorcist to the Prophecy, from Psycho to Halloween. The story seems obvious; the cliché-horror themes are there, and while I saw them coming, I was comfortable enough. But then comes the movie, the script, the score, the acting, all in perfect harmony... and you jump, and you chill and you shout and you wish you had never entered that dammed cinema.

It is good. It is great.It is moving and horrifying. It does not need CGI, sound effects or unreal characters. Its there. Its real. Its haunting. It WILL be a classic.

Chapeau!

If you love a well-told ghost story, then you should enjoy THE ORPHANAGE. It's packed with mystery, dread, and perfectly-placed chills.

Laura (Belen Rueda) returns to the titular institution of her youth in order to turn it into a home for disabled children. With her husband and young son in tow, all seems fine at first. When tragedy strikes, Laura's world collapses, leaving her at the mercy of a supernatural game.

This movie deals as much with the agony of loss as it does with the paranormal. The ending is as poignant as it is terrifying. Recommended for those seeking intelligent horror films...

I went into a screening of this today knowing only that it was about a woman who buys the home she lived in as an orphaned child, planning to open it to other orphans, that it mixed fantasy and reality, and that Guillermo del Toro of 'Pan's Labyrinth' had a hand in it. I didn't have any expectations. Even if I did, I certainly not have expected what I got. 'El Orfanato' surprised me first in successfully thrilling me with its surface, and surprised me again in how deeply it moved me with its core.

When Laura (the marvelous Belén Rueda) moves back into the house that used to be the orphanage she lived in as a girl, she is thirty-seven, married, and she and her husband have adopted a son - Simón, a little boy with HIV who doesn't know that he's terminally ill or adopted. Simón is wildly creative - he has several imaginary friends and a penchant for treasure hunts, mind games, and the story of Peter Pan. One day shortly after a mysterious visit from a social worker and Simón's revelation that he knows the truth about his adoption and illness, Simón disappears. The rest of the film follows Laura's desperate search for her son as she comes to terms with her loss and her own past as well.

Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez does a masterful job of balancing the thriller with the drama. Laura's attempts to connect with everything that haunts her and her home are darkly touching, though slightly psychologically twisted. The acting is strong, and the directing, editing, cinematography, and music all work together well. Some of the sound effects - the constant creaking, wind blowing, etc. - got wearisome as the film went on, and some of the thrills were a little cheap - I won't ruin it for anyone by revealing them - though, admittedly, they were effective all the same. The story dragged a little towards the end and during the scene with the medium - cutting it just a little shorter might have been equally as effective and easier on the viewer.

Bottom line: even if you don't like "scary" movies (like me), you'll probably still appreciate and enjoy the more thrilling aspects. If you're a horror flick buff, you'll probably find some of the thriller elements a little tired and overdone. Either way, it's still worth seeing - the exploration of Laura's heart and mind are both lovely and tragic to behold, and though the film is morbid, it is beautiful as well.

The Orphanage is a slick and quietly chilling piece of work based around (what else?) an orphanage. A woman named Laura returns to the orphanage she grew up in as a child, with the intention of opening it up again as a home for children with disabilities. Together with her husband and adopted son Simon, Laura tries to make the huge old building ready to receive it's first new residents, but all is not quiet in the dusty rooms and grounds, and gradually she starts to feel sinister presences from the past making themselves known.

The film strings out quite a good story, blending traditional scares (bumping noises heard through walls and doors, silently appearing children in masks) with modern touches (Simon is HIV positive). Although most of the actual frights are on the soft side, the film does have quite away with sudden shocks, especially one great sequence involving the death of a sinister secondary character...you'll know when you see it! But mostly, things stay pretty calm, and there were times when I was wishing for something more visceral to actually happen, as many of the very well built tension sequences fade away without any cinematic pay-off, such as a very tense séance sequence, and in most of the (many) scenes of Laura alone in the orphanage, she being almost too subtly menaced for things to get really scary, which I think is a shame. However there are certain moments when you WILL jump!

However, The Orphanage still stands up as a strong piece of work. The backbone of the film is undoubtedly the strong performance by Belén Rueda as Laura, who carries the entire film admirably. The film looks great, with stunning photography and very elegant sets and a gorgeous building standing in for the orphanage itself. Sound and music work very well too, and the film succeeds in working many small elements together (such as a playground hiding game and some very clever revelations towards the end), so all in all, the film is an accomplished piece of cinema and well worth seeing, although don't expect too much real terror as most of the chills in this film are poetic rather than gruesome.