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With the intention of opening a home for sick and disabled children,
Laura (Belén Rueda) moves into the orphanage she grew up in, along with
her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and their son, Simón (Roger
Príncep). As the opening of the home approaches Simón's small group of
imaginary friends grows, hinting at something more than child's play.
Before opening day is over Simón disappears, pulling Laura into a dark
game that threatens to destroy her sanity. |
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 A
quick review for a movie that really needs to be seen in order to
believe just how good it is, The Orphanage is by far the scariest
movie I have seen in a long, long time. Director Juan Antonio Bayona
takes his cues from producer Guillermo Del Toro using the same dark
fantasy storytelling that was prevalent in Del Toro's Pan's
Labyrinth, making me wonder if Del Toro pulled a
Poltergeist and had more to
do with the film than we are led to believe, just as
Steven Spielberg
“lent a helping hand” to Tobe Hooper in directing Poltergeist.
Speaking of Poltergeist,
the best way to describe The Orphanage would be to take
Poltergeist, The Haunting and
Pan's Labyrinth and put
them in a blender, mix, and then sprinkle a little bit of The Others
on top. Bayona uses suspense like a master, building tension out of
nothing at all. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat for no
reason at all. Low angles are used where you would expect to see a hand
snake out of the darkness. Or a far away shot where you expect someone
to step into frame-watching the lead characters. Those are just a few
examples of how he creates tension and keeps it up by not using those
moments, instead opting to keep the tension tight. The creepy sound
design and eerie music add to the overall tone of the film quite nicely.
For once there is a movie
where the performances take a backseat to the story itself, which is a
good thing, because as with Pan's Labyrinth, it is hard to judge
an actors ability when you can't speak their language. You don't get the
cadence and tone and inflection that we use to judge the actors ability
to project emotion. On the other hand, a performance can also be graded
on body language and the ability to express emotion with your eyes, and
that is how I judged the actors in The Orphanage. We spend most
of the movie with Belén Rueda, who plays Laura. She carries the film
well as a distraught mother who knows her son is still alive. Her
anguish comes across quite clearly as she knows what to do, but not how
to do it. While Fernando Cayo, as Laura's husband, has a few scenes
where you can see in his eyes how much he cares for Laura and how
helpless he feels because he doesn't know how to help her while in other
scenes, it seems he's just going through the motions.
If you
liked the Pan's Labyrinth, you will
like The Orphanage, trust me. Even if you haven't seen Pan's
Labyrinth, like horror films and can handle subtitles, then see
The Orphanage. With scares, plot twists, atmosphere and just all
around plain creepiness, The Orphanage is what I consider to be a
prime example of suspense/horror.
My rating: 9/10 (Only because I don't like subtitles, lol)
Until
Guillermo Del Toro and Clive Barker collaborate,
keep reading
Mitch E
mitchemerson@hotmail.com
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