An incredible movie and a good first impression on a new director

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2009)

I just recently saw this movie last night, and from my first time watching this movie, I'm glad to say that it is one of the better movie I have seen in a long time. My friend actually picked up this movie & we had no idea it was a gem until we saw it.
First off: i hate gory horror films. Those ones like Halloween and house of 1000 corpses (I'm looking at you Rob Zombie) just aren't inspiring at all. they're gross, not scary. El Orfanato is not one of those, and its great that they chose it to be that way. It's also not one of those movies with the stereotypical little girl crying blood or relieving themselves on the floor (RE: Silent Hill and the hills have eyes). So they did a good job on keeping the plot secretive until the end. horror flicks haven't had as much fun screwing with peoples minds since the original Saw.
the acting is great too. It never feels over the top, and the were no cheesy lines that are found in a typical movie. You really connect with the mother, you really want to know what happened to Simon but you can't. You really want to know what happened in the past, but YOU CAN'T. thats what I love about these movies. There's nothing you can do but watch and learn.
The only problem I have with this movie is some of the little plot gaps, that don't really come into effect or just are not clear at all. For example, we realize that yes, all the children die except for Laura, but why? we figure out benigna poisoned them, but it never really explains why she did so, and why Laura was killed. I just went under the assumption that Laura was adopted, yet her foster parents play no role in the movie. And also Benigna looks way older that Laura. In the past, she may have looked like 15 years older than Laura (at the most), but in the present, Laura describes her in her "70's". I mean, this isn't a huge issue, but if this was explained in some more detail, like in some deleted scenes, it probably would have been good information to go by. but it doesn't hurt the plot.
as an IMDb score, 7.7 is a little bit lower than I would have wanted it to be. i would have given it a 8.3 or something. In terms of the movies I have seen, I would definitely give this a 9/10. It only loses the 1 point for the small plot pieces that weren't there.
so to sum this up: Plot (8) - good story, right down to the very end. I made a few assumptions to get the most out of the plot.
Acting (9) - You really connect with Rueda's character, and Cayo who plays Laura's husband, is a pretty good actor too.
Directing (10) - Expect Bayona to make more great movies. The fact he's friends with with del Toro makes him my hero. Plus it is his FIRST. well done Overall (not an average) : (9) Review by Justin Soucie, 2009