Ditch Your Preconceptions; a different Screw turns here...

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2018)

The first time I saw this, frankly I was disappointed. I came to it fresh from viewing Japanese horrors of skinny, long-haired girls walking upside-down on ceilings, vengeful victims of abuse and slaughter. I was looking for more of the same. Of course, I didn't find it. The Orphanage is a quieter kind of horror. It has more in common with Jack Clayton's 1961 film, The Innocents, than most contemporary horror. Both films show a woman fighting to save a child from what she believes to be maleficent supernatural entities. Jack Clayton's film leaves us wondering if the monster was in the woman's own mind (and the film is none the worse for that); J A Bayona leaves us with no such ambiguity. And The Orphanage is a wonderful film.
But when I first watched it, yes, I was disappointed. I did want the screaming horrors of contemporary cinema, and this quietly acted drama didn't scare me. Now, about a decade later, I was able to let myself be drawn in. The weird setting of house and lighthouse, the compelling story and completely convincing acting, all worked their spell, and I was seriously creeped-out as the film reached its final act. Along with The Innocents, The Babadook and (possibly) The Others, The Orphanage has now become one of my all time favourite films.