El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

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El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

85% Liked It
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El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla, Mabel Rivera

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  read more... )t awakens her son's imagination, but the ongoing fantasy games he plays with an invisible friend quickly turn into something more disturbing. Upon seeing her family increasingly threatened by the strange occurrences in the house, Laura looks to a group of parapsychologists for help in unraveling the mystery that has taken over the place.

Id: 10851539

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El Orfanato (The Orphanage) Recent Reviews
  • purplemegan
    July 6, 2009
    purplemegan
    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)way from the movie.
  • Sleaze
    April 16, 2009
    Sleaze
    I enjoyed it but kept getting the nagging feeling that I'd seen it all before...
  • thefog1331
    March 28, 2009
    thefog1331
    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.
  • Deano78
    March 1, 2009
    Deano78
    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)sense most of all, so if you like those you'll love this.
  • DrZeek
    February 15, 2009
    DrZeek
    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)developed characters.

    This is a Spanish haunted house story, given the seal of approval by famed Mexican horror director Guillermo Del Toro, serving as executive producer for this film.

    The story involves a mid 30s woman, Laura, who has purchased the old house, which served as orphanage she grew up in, with the intention of using it as an orphanage once again. She moves with her husband Carlos and her adopted son Simon, who unfortunately was born with HIV.

    Simon has a wild imagination, leading him to create imaginary friends and play tricky games with himself. Soon after moving in and some questionable circumstances, Simon goes missing.

    Laura must not only deal with this, but also with the strange happenings going on in and around the house, which includes the creepy image of a boy in a very disturbing mask and a mysterious older woman.

    Simon's disappearance with no trace leads to the use of parapsychologists, despite Carlos disbelief in the supernatural, as well as Laura having to realize what had once gone on in the orphanage.

    The story is very well handled. Everything in this movie has a purpose. Elements are setup early on, only to be given significance later in the story that prove to be very effective.

    The lead actress, Belen Rueda, is very effective as Laura, as she must carry this movie, and does so in a very good way. The same goes for the supporting actors, who only add to Laura's character.

    The movie itself is very well handled. It takes some notes from other haunted house/ghost stories from films like The Shining, and makes it into its own. The camera work is very effective and not at all overdone. We hear all the different sounds, bumps, creaks, and all, staging very effective build ups for various scenes. There are almost no special effects for this film, and the R-rating is put to good use for a film like this. It's not overstuffed with gore, but it has a few frightening images.

    This really is one of the best actual horror movies I have seen in a very long time. It gave me a few chills (I'm a sucker against creepy kid movies), its well made, has good characters, good pay offs for the various setups, and does exactly what it should do - entertain the way this kind of movie should.

    Carlos: Here, take my necklace of St. Andrew.
    Laura: But you don't believe in that stuff.
    Carlos: Exactly. That's why you should have it.
  • kairy
    November 12, 2009
    kairy
    Great movie! See also The Orphan!
  • ElCochran90
    November 11, 2009
    ElCochran90
    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) Asian formula, it has an invigorating atmosphere and most of the photography allows the scary proportions of El Orfatano to be enhanced.

    74/100
  • LoraKutty
    November 3, 2009
    LoraKutty
    This is a well written and thrilling story and I enjoyed it alot. The subtitles weren't so good though and that was the only negative thing I can say about this movie.
    This movie proved once again that horror movies from Hollywood suck (mainly)!
  • CorpseFlower9
    November 2, 2009
    CorpseFlower9
    I love this movie <3
  • gaerniak
    November 1, 2009
    gaerniak
    Uncompromising drama is mixed in quite well with some chilling suspense in this tale that's described almost perfectly by its tagline; "A love story, a horror tale."
    What makes this film tick so well is just how poignant the journey of Rueda's character is. She will do nothing to...( read more) stop until she finds out the truth about her missing son, and unfortunately, when she does..... It's time to shed some tears.
    A fantastic effort by JA Bayona, considering this is his directorial debut.
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