Good haunted house story, narrated with great style

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2008)

A woman named Laura has returned, with her husband and child, Simon, to the house that was her home, an orphanage, when she was a little girl. She has restored it to be their home and a residence for disabled children. Her son, Simon, has an exuberant imagination and an unquenchable curiosity, and he has made his invisible friends a household presence for his parents. At their new, beautiful though isolated house, the kid seems to have found more invisible friends... or are they? Such is the starting point of "El orfanato", the new gem produced by Spanish cinema and Guillermo del Toro. It is categorized under the horror label, but, although it is horror, it is also so much more -it allows the viewer to enjoy an almost perfect ghost story, with the added leitmotiv of a superimposed story of a mother who would do anything for her child, led by an unconditional love. The story has it all: good scares, a creepy atmosphere, and great acting by the leading actors, with Belen Rueda shining at her best here. As far as the scary parts go, I can say that this movie has some of the scariest scenes I've seen in a long time, and that it will please fans of psychological and atmospheric horror rather than gore-lovers.
The ending is very satisfying -although I personally object to the kind of brief epilogue at the very end, which was, in my opinion, not only unnecessary but also demeaning of the value of the film- and many sides of the story will remain open to interpretation, although one reading is suggested by the movie, but if you are looking for a movie that will stick with you and make you look for answers, without necessarily being an impossible puzzle, this is a safe bet.
All in all, "El orfanato" doesn't tell anything very new or original, it doesn't really break any new grounds as far as the story goes, but its contribution is to tell it all with exquisite style and great manners, so that it tells you a good story in a superior way than other movies of the same subgenre.