Now this is the type of creepy movie that I like. I like there to be some scariness but that there's a mystery behind everything and you have to figure it out. I usually have to be in the mood for a foreign flick but I feel like having to read the subtitles didn't take anything a...( read more)
Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin
Laura purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring and reopening the long abandoned facility as a place for disabled children. Once there, Laura discovers that the new environmen...( read more
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DVD Release Date: April 22, 2008
Stats: 12,126 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (12,126)
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July 6, 2009
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April 16, 2009
I enjoyed it but kept getting the nagging feeling that I'd seen it all before...
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March 28, 2009
A rare type of film that can be creepy one moment and tender the next. Well-made and intriguing but it's not something I'll ever want to watch again for reasons I can't explain without ruining it.
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March 1, 2009
A great Spanish ghost story/thriller which I'm sure said it was directed by Guiilermo Del Toro? I saw the trailer and had to see this. It's very creepy at times, largely due to the spooky location. It's a very good story well told and directed. Reminded me of The Others, The 6th ...( read more)
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February 15, 2009
Simon: Can my new friend come home to play with us.
Laura: What is his name?
Simon: Tomas.
This is something you just do not see very often anymore, a damn good horror movie. It has tension, scares that are not the cheap jump kind, some creepy images, a good story, and well ...( read more) -
November 17, 2009
A little overrated. The ghost story in this has been used a lot before in horror/thrillers (The Ring, Skeleton Key, The Others, Poltergeist, etc) and the missing child thing has also been done so many times (Flightplan, The Missing, The Forgotten and some more). So really, there'...( read more)
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November 11, 2009
Bayona is helped by the name of Del Toro behind this flick. However, it may confuse audiences who are looking for a cool and scary, financially successful horror film, and those who are expecting an independent project. Independently of the fact that it borrows the already-famous...( read more)
Critic Reviews
The film is less of a shocker than an adventure in anxiety, testing and twisting some of the classic studies in infantile curiosity. full review
...the movie leaves you feeling not simply wrung-out by shock and carnage, but genuinely spooked. full review
Like the best of horror films, it gets under your skin not with gore or cheap jolts but with an unnerving, ever-building tension, and with images that remain with you long afterward, interrupting your... full review
Ms. Rueda is such a gifted actor that she keeps this movie alive through thick and thin. full review
In a season filled with dark-themed films, it stands out as an elegantly mounted, surprisingly humane but terrifying horror thriller well worth seeing. full review
The Orphanage a diverting, overwrought ghost story from Spain, relies on basic and durable horror movie techniques.
A ghost story in which character motivation is haphazard and scares as scarce as narrative logic. full review
Comments
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June 10, 2008El Orfanato (The Orphanage) Hi Alexander, this sounds like a movie I would like very much, thanks for your review!
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May 20, 2008Rente ayer la pelicula y me ha encantado. No me esperaba tanto! Si me fue un poco predecible en algunos momentos, pero no dejo de sorprenderme. Mas que una pelicula de horror y/o suspenso, es una viva representacion de lo que es cine y muy bien hecho.
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March 19, 2008Actually Lovecyn4eve I agree it slowed down a bit but it was a beautiful ending showing that she eventually had to die to get her child back and that the supernatural were looking for someone to take care of them. That scene of Thomas walking towards her I must say that was quite frightening that will be in a dream of mine soon I'd say not good.
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March 3, 2008This was an amazing movie. I loved it. I have to say the scariest part was honestly the home videos. They were jsut freaky in their own way.
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March 2, 2008me parecio un film exelente!! muy bunas actuaciones, un escenario magnifico y la trama en si.. dios!! super buena, y con lo del final, por dios!! maravilloso uno nunca se imagina que ese seria el final! y estoy impresionada por que de verdad que las peliculas españolas no son de mi gran agrado pero esta de verdad que me dejo boca abierta
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January 8, 2008Beautifully shot,great atmosphere,stunning score with sound effects & suspenseful moments that makes it a creepy ghost film but with a plot hole & a weak ending.I was expecting a shocking finale & great twist.The film manage to get the audience jumping at times which is a good thing.
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November 1, 2007me ha encantado la pelicula!esta genial y consigue que al final de la peli la gente se quede pensando a cerca de ella.enorabuena belen!
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October 28, 2007A mi me ha encantado. Belen me ha sorprendido y mucho!!! Una de las pelis que mas destacan españolas. ^^ Me ha encantado.
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