The Orphanage
2007 ‘El orfanato’ Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona
Synopsis
A tale of love. A story of horror.
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, where she opens an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
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After my eighth viewing I firmly believe this is the best horror film of the last 15 years. Admittedly competition in the last decade has hardly been stellar but that doesn’t stop this from not only being a fantastic horror film but a great film irrespective of genre. It isn't the scariest by any means but much like Rosemary's Baby it works on more than one level and takes you on a far greater emotional journey than most genre films do.
The Orphanage is, on the surface at least, a very old fashioned horror film. It exists in the same world as The Innocents: a world of large empty houses and fragile mental states. It relies on the suggested rather…
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I have only just recovered...the panic I felt when the ending nearly went all Hollywood on me...the 5 star film that was about to become a 1 star film! Thankfully it turned out to be the perfect ending and go back to being a 5 star...masterpiece!
Three times in my life has a piece of entertainment had me so creeped out that my whole body has been a mass of goosebumps. One was during the first Paranormal Activity (all haters, go and fuck yo'selves and yo mama!!) the other is the first Silent Hill game on the Playstation...the babies crying in the darkness. Now they have been joined by The Orphanage.
The scene with the medium walking the house and…
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Oh how I love a good old fashioned ghost story…
That was one of the things that stood out to me during The Orphanage. It’s a classic ghost tale that pulls great elements from all the scariest stories WITHOUT relying too much on movie clichés. It’s a Spanish film, produced by Guillermo Del Toro and directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. It was made with a different audience in mind; people who aren’t used to American horror movies, people who don’t rely on jump scares to get their rocks off, and people who like great exposition and build up in their horror movies. In short, it wasn’t made for idiots.
Now this doesn’t mean that the movie is highly intelligent or…
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Now this is a real horror. Although it has many of the horror clichés - the mansion filled with creeky doorways, the unnerving children that sing their creepy chant - it all feels very original. There is even something engaging and almost compelling in the story line that most horrors fail at miserably. The director has taken time with it's characters and given the story enough context to make the audience connect with it. Not lowering itself to cheap scares, The Orphanage is creepy because of how genuinely well made it is, both in structure and appearance.
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I especially like the lack of overtly scary material in this excellently put together and rather creepy horror. With the backing of the great Guillermo del Toro and perfect direction from Juan Antonio Bayona this is a fantastic example of horror done well. After del Toro's Pan's Layrinth the bar had been set very high showing that horror isnt all about gore and cheap tricks. Along similar lines The Orphanage hits all the high notes. The psychological scares and chills are second to none. It starts off slow and you need to give it your full attention as there are some nice subtle clues up for grabs, but once this gets going it really proves itself as a top rate mystery horror.
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Slow-burning Spanish Horror. A subtle, creepy, well structured, unpredictable and emotionally involving tale. 10/10.
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A great ghost from the recent wave of spanish thrillers. You think this ghost story is going to finish just like any ghost story. Suddenly you realize this a detective ghost story. I dont want to spoil you, but this movie its very rewatchable as their are things you wont see the same way once you get to the end.
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there is one good scene
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I agree with it's admirers who say it's free of cheap scares, but my problem is that it's free of any scares at all.
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Excellent horror movie - and I don't even like scary movies. Good plot, good acting, and a little tragedy thrown in never hurts.
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Creo que he visto esta misma trama en español, inglés y francés. Ya basta.
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A compassionate and motherly lead helps lift this well-crafted and atmospheric horror, as it manages to go through a myriad of clichés while constantly subverting expectations.
The film is essentially a haunted house thrill ride, but the pacing has a slow burn quality. This is elevated by the story of a sick son who comes to the realisation he may be dying. The mother also has a vague relationship to the previous history of the orphanage.
The trajectory of the film is often surprising. The mother becomes wheelchair bound but this only lasts for a short period. Mediums visit for a great sequence but their storyline is abandoned. It also avoids becoming a psychological thriller where the lead is seen…
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Muchos critican al cine español por criticar. Otros tienen más razón que un Santo(que tenga razón). El Orfanato es una buena pelicula. Camina por un terreno muy trillado y con un argumento muy poco sorprendente y, no, no es de miedo. Pese a todo eso, la pelicula me ha gustado. Más que una fábula, donde la tristeza se mezcla con la esperanza.
Y con una banda sonora que es deliciosa.
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This is one of my favorite horror films. So wonderful.
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A traditional Ghost story not resorting to the tricks of modern day horror, of more, more, more of everything. But goes for a low key setting all about tension and subtle scares.
The film starring an exceptional Belén Rueda playing Laura who returns to the former Orphanage she used to call home with her family, and sinister things are going on with her son making friends, with new invisible friends. Belén Rueda who as already stated is exceptional as a lot of the film sits on her shoulders. As a woman almost always on the verge of a total emotional break down, and makes the film just as much saddening and touching as well as scary. The film also has…