Lately, it’s been hard to come across a truly scary movie that didn’t need the help of unnecessary blood and guts in order to shock the audience. Though the Saw movies succeed in using this type of genre (I had nightmares for weeks), a film that is able to make me just as frightened without having to resort to gory special effects is called The Orphanage.
This spooky film comes all the way from Spain under the direction of Sergio G. Sanchez. The film was released in the states earlier this year in January, and I feel like it’s a film that is a great yet lesser-known horror movie. The story takes place in, who would have guess it, an orphanage where the main character, Laura, grew up as a child and later bought to have her family live in. With her husband Carlos and adopted son Simon, she decides to make her new home into an orphanage for handicapped children. But as she’s busy preparing for this new orphanage, she regretfully pays little credence to the five imaginary friends that Simon talks about all the time.
The film’s very smart and plays on people’s fears of ghosts and spirits. There are twists and turns that are revealed as the plot moves along, and scenes that will just about make you leap out of your pants. It’s always good to take a risk with a foreign film since they are able to put a whole new spin on film that many of us are unaware of. If you’re one of those people that just can’t deal with the subtitles (movies are meant to be easy, right?), take a chance on this one because there aren’t many American films that can compare to its eerie plot.
Landon Cassman: Through boredom and pure enjoyment I find myself always involved in either film or music related endeavors. This is one of them.
Comments
Joe Yang - foreign film reviewer (Joe Yang - foreign film reviewer) says:
(Posted June 16th, 2008 at 12:52 pm)
I’ve been meaning to see this movie but never got around to it. It’s tough to make a good ghost story these days, but this one sounds like it’d be worth it.
Was it anything like THE OTHERS?
TIto Pedraza (TIto Pedraza) says:
(Posted June 17th, 2008 at 4:51 pm)
Cool feature. Del Toro is one of my favorites and Ill be sure to run to the video store and check this one out. I cant believe I slept on this one. And on the subtitles, I completely agree. I actually wrote a feature on the subtitle issue earlier this year. BTW, welcome to the 217….I was getting lonely over here.
Landon Cassman (Landon Cassman) says:
(Posted June 17th, 2008 at 10:02 pm)
Thanks for the welcoming. Yea I totally forgot Guillermo produced this movie. I’m really excited for Hellboy 2 to come out. He just makes his characters looks so freaky.
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Through boredom and pure enjoyment I find myself always involved in either film or music related endeavors. This is one of them.
Sarah (Sarah) says:
(Posted June 15th, 2008 at 10:20 pm)
I loved this flick. I was scared to walk down the hallway of my house for a week.