The Orphanage

The Orphanage is a Spanish language horror film directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and has been produced by Guillermo del Toro. Laura () spent formative years at an orphanage which she returns to as an adult with her husband and child in hopes of opening a home for special needs children. Her son Simon has a very active imagination which includes several imaginary friends. It is thus largely taken for granted when Simon begins talking of a new friend. When Simon goes missing, Laura becomes more and more desperate to discover what has happened to her son.

It is on this plot line that one becomes immersed in a fairly effective and at times incredibly creepy ghost story. One whose main concern is atmosphere not the degree to which it can turn your stomach with blood and torture. In this respect it is a far more effective horror film than wastes of film like those of the Saw franchise or worse still the Hostel movies. It is quite evidence early on that this is not a mystery of whether there are or are not ghosts but rather will Laura be able to reclaim her son.

A great deal is built on scenes being shot so that your expectation of the fright builds and an intrusive but effective soundtrack manipulates you into a moment of tension that half the time winds up being anticlimactic. But nevertheless the next scene is pulling you in the same way. One particularly effective aspect is the "game" which the ghost plays with people, wherein it takes something of value and hides clues to its location in various places. Each clue bringing Laura tantalizingly closer to finding Simon.

It isn't a great ghost story though. Much of the early character building is a little weak character motivation for all but Laura seems a little strained. And worst of its sins is that when it isn't in full on tension building manipulation mode its trudging along far to slowly. There are a few cheap scare tactics which always seem obligatory in horror films but I find tedious. These are the comes out of nowhere jolts you stuff not the generally creepy scares you to the bone type.

As for the ultimate reveal of the ghosts and of Simon's disappearance I must say I was pleasantly impressed but was disappointed by what although ostensibly is a dark ending is actually tamed by a certain sentimental streak. But in this one the whole is greater than its parts and it works in a satisfying way overall. And as I've suggested above, its ten times better than these hacker/slasher horror films that are so popular right now.