Not Really A Horror Film, Per Se

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2008)

THE ORPHANAGE is a tough film to review, as it had some really good points but some really low ones, too.
The highest point comes from Guillermo del Toro's association with it. For those unaware, del Toro was the genius behind such films as HELLBOY, the new HELLBOY II and the exquisite PAN'S LABYRINTH. Visually wondrous and stark, del Toro has a discerning eye for what does and does not work, and one can easily see his input (as a producer this time) within The Orphange. Although he had a hands-off approach for this film, you can see it is distinctly del Toro in nature, with heavy shadows, complex film shots, and a movie that lets the images speak rather than a visceral score (which was minimal).
Spanish stage-star-turned-film-actress Belén Rueda pulls in a fantastic performance as a returning woman to the orphanage she once inhabited as a child, but this time as owner of the failing building. Her pouty eyes, ruffled hair, and slumped shoulders gave her just the right mixture of attractiveness and cookyness that such a role demanded. When Laura's (Belén Rueda) adopted son Simón (Roger Príncep) goes missing from a party at the house/orphanage, Laura obviously does everything to try and locate him. Her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) also tries for many months but soon loses faith in ever finding the boy alive. He's probably right, too, since the boy was sick and needed daily medications. But Laura refuses to give up. She "feels" something in the house, just as Simón had before he disappeared. Simón kept referring to invisible friends who wanted him to stay and play with them. Laura and Carlos, of course, just assumed the boy to have an active imagination.
But Laura begins awakening to memories of her time at the orphanage, and with this comes a flood of troubled remembrances. When a group of paranormal researchers are called in to see if they can find out what happened to Simón, Laura's suspicions are aroused further, but cause a rift to grow between she and her husband. Carlos soon leaves but Laura stays, and she starts "playing the game" that these memories tell her to (including a game of hide and seek that results in some of the film's scarier moments, "1 ...2 ...3...Knock on the wall.") Although the performances and filming were done with great care, the script itself was not. Deus ex machina rules the ending (just think of the movie THE OTHERS and you'll be real close). That this film has horror elements is undeniable, but genre-wise it doesn't quite fit. Although I don't think shoe-horning a film into a specific genre is a good thing, it does give the viewer a sense of what to expect and how the story will unfold. Not so here. The ending makes it a bit too sweet. Okay, so that might not be fair if you compare Pan's Labyrinth's ending and this one (true, they are similar). But Pan's Labyrinth had a much more cohesive story that came at you from a child's perspective. With The Orphanage, it is through Laura's eyes that we see this world, and she's a grown up with grown up ideals. Plus the brutality of Pan's Labyrinth was horrifically pulled off by the evil protagonist, while in The Orphange, it really had none other than its own circumstances.
But if you're in the mood for something visually appealing, this one will stimulate that portion of your brain. Just don't expect a smashing success ...or a horror film.