Both human and horrifying - possible spoilers

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2008)

If you've ventured into cinemas watching a horror movie as of late, you've probably been treated with a few screams and shocks, but after leaving the theater, the experience is over. And while you enjoyed the film's fear factor, you probably talk about how 2 dimensional the films protagonists are and how you're glad they died in the 2nd reel.
If you remember watching some of the best horror films in recent memory, then you might remember a time when a film sent shivers down your spine and lingered with you well after the closing credits. The Orphanage is a classic ghost story that stays with you. The story is fairly straightforward, but the combination of fear and emotion cause the audience to experience the fear of our heroine, Laura.
My favorite scene in the film is in the beginning, where we see a young Laura playing with the other children at the orphanage just before she is to be adopted out. It's a simple scene that is very short, but provides a great setup for the rest of the film.
Years later, an adult Laura comes back to the orphanage with her husband and her adopted son, Simon. She has the intention of opening it to service children with special needs. Simon has alleged imaginary friends that play with him. When he mysteriously disappears, Laura starts questioning if these friends are imaginary or if they are indeed ghosts.
What I love about this film is the genuine fear felt by the viewer. So often in modern horror movies, we are treated with false shocks and teases of something frightening that isn't really there. These types of shocks have become formulaic and predictable. In "The Orphanage," you often know something is coming. You're just terrified of what it might be.
I also like this film's relationship with the supernatural. When Laura starts to feel that Simon's imaginary friends might be real, she has interesting interaction with the alleged ghosts. This is one of those films that sets forth its rules quite clearly about how the dead function.
What I love above all is the human nature in this film. There is a reason Guillermo Del Toro's name is lent as executive producer to this film. His two well known Spanish films, Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, deal with injustices towards children. While this is more of a traditional horror tale, it's still easy to see a few similarities between this and his work, notably the Devil's Backbone.
I wouldn't say this is the horror movie to end all horror movies, but it's certainly far better than Hollywood horror yarn that usually triumphs at the box office. It's smart, well acted, and has a heart. At the end, it lingers with you for a long while. I seriously haven't felt this way after leaving a horror film since the 6th Sense, to which this film owes a little dept.