Orphans Creep Me Out

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2008)

I checked off "Contains Spoiler", but there isn't really much in this review that'll spoil anything.
You'll be creeped out, have your heart broke, and have it mended, all in one hour and a half. Well, maybe not, but if you're like me you will! All I really knew going into this movie was that it was Spanish, and that that kid with the sack on his head scared the crap out of me! So I was pretty prepared for the scary stuff, but didn't think the movie would be so moving as well. In a way, it's not so much a horror movie, as it is a movie about dealing with loss. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of creepy moments in the movie...just not as much as your average everyday horror movie. Most the scary moments are due to atmosphere and tension as opposed to jump scares. So if you like the monsters popping out at you, you'll be bummed out. But if a sense of impending dread is something you enjoy, I think you'll dig the movie.
The movie's basic plot is this; A woman was an orphan, and moves back into her childhood orphanage as an adult in hopes to reopen it. Her husband and son move in as well, and her son begins to gain more and more imaginary friends. Where it goes from there, I will not say, but it's not always what you expect. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that the son goes missing, and from there the movie become much more of a psychological study of loss...and a rather good one at that.
The conclusion of the movie wasn't quite what I expected, but that's a good thing. The Orphanage is really a beautiful take of the classic Peter Pan story, and a movie I look forward to visiting again!
A