Treads Common Ground, But Is Well-Crafted, Engrossing, And Frightening Nonetheless.

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2008)

"El Orfanato" (or "The Orphanage", in its English title) is a horror film that centers on Laura (Belen Rueda), a woman who was raised in a large orphanage where she spent her childhood. With fond memories of the place, she moves back with her husband Carlos, and adopted son, Simon, with plans to open an orphanage for disabled children of her own. But strange things begin to plague Laura - a mysterious social worker after her son stalks the grounds, and Simon has gained some bizarre imaginary friends. And during the celebration of the orphanage's opening, Simon disappears into thin air, and Laura finds herself desperate to put the pieces together and find her son. What ensues is a dark journey into the house's past and a mystery involving the children that lived there over 30 years ago.
Highly praised and longly awaited, "The Orphanage" is a horror movie that pleases on nearly all levels. The rave for this movie was fairly large, and my expectations were high going in, and thankfully, they were met. From my brief synopsis, this may sound like something you have see a dozen times, and I'm not going to lie - "The Orphanage" borrows many ideas and uses set-ups we have seen before - but the reason it is such an excellent movie is because of a number of factors. First of all, the script is well-written. The story is well-told and the central mystery at the core of the plot is fantastic. Not only that, but the story has a heart. It's got feeling and emotion, something rare in many horror films. It's at times quite touching, especially toward the end (but I won't go there), but still manages to balance the drama with enough shocks and scares to earn it it's horror label.
Through its entire running time, this movie only contains one bit of violence, with lasts no more than fifteen seconds, but it still manages to evoke chills through it's atmosphere and story, which is rare in American horror cinema, which has been clogged with explicitly-violent "horror" movies that really lack any value. While it's been stated many times, violence does not make a movie scary - sure, it can accompany a solid story and that isn't bad, but when an entire movie is just gratuitous violence, there is nothing frightening about it, it's just there for the shock factor, and I enjoy films like "The Orphanage" that avoid that and actually make an effort to get a genuine fright out of the audience.
The suspense is wonderful, and it tightens slowly as the movie builds toward its climax, peppering plenty of scary moments and eerie scenes throughout, all while doing a sufficient job at clearly presenting the story. The production design enhances the spookiness, the house itself is menacing and very Gothic and old-fashioned, sometimes reminiscent of films like "The Others", and "Darkness" (both being foreign-produced movies, both in Spain as well). Orphanages are potentially eerie places to begin with, and while the "ghost" children are rarely seen, they are menacing nonetheless. The sheer sight of Simon's friend Tomas (with his hack-sack mask with a buttoned eye) is downright terrifying, especially when he is first seen by the Laura character in the hallway - that scene sticks out in my mind and probably will for days.
Acting-wise, this film is also quite successful. Belen Rueda carries the movie and is brilliant in her performance. The rest of the cast performs well, but honestly, most of them are overshadowed by Rueda's performance - she was really excellent in her role, and, even despite the language barrier, her acting still comes through. The twist-ending was one of the biggest and most upsetting shocks of the movie, and I found myself with my jaw nearly dropped to the floor. But, the movie ended on a pleasant, very uplifting and touching note - another horror rarity. The heart-felt moments and very 'human' elements are what would make me say that this a 'horror' movie that people who despise horror movies would probably enjoy. It's frightening, but the story and themes are relate-able.
Overall, "The Orphanage" is an exceptional horror film that treads common ground, but manages to keep it interesting and tell an intelligent, engrossing, and scary story. The style is unique as well, and the entire film is extremely well-crafted, with a really heart-warming conclusion. Again, do not let the language barrier put you off from seeing it, reading subtitles is not that difficult, and you will miss out on a great horror movie. "The Orphanage" is a large cut above most to horror movies to come out in the recent past, and is heaps better than most of the horror garbage that is carted out of Hollywood. Well worth seeing if it's showing near you, I saw it with a large group downtown and everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy it. 9/10.