The Orphanage - DVD Review

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Review

Orfanato, El (or The Orphanage) is a Spanish horror movie which tells the story of mother (Laura, played by Belén Rueda) who along with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo), decide to purchase and renovate the Orphanage in which Laura spent her younger years. Their child Simon (who is adopted) is a quiet kid and Laura and Carlos don’t think too much of it when he talks about the invisible friends he has met, after all most kids have imaginary friends don’t they?

It’s only when Simon seems to have knowledge of things previously kept secret do his parents become slightly concerned – even then, they brush aside the aspect of imaginary friends once again but there is a sense of something being amiss.

So could Simon’s disappearance a few days later be linked with the mad social worker that visited or the ghostly experience Laura has with a strange child with his face covered in a potato sack? The rest of the film sees Laura try to find her son and unravelling the secrets of the orphanage and what links them both together, Carlos on the other hand steadily seems to accept that Simon is gone forever and finds it hard to cope with Laura’s ghost stories.

It’s very difficult to describe The Orphanage as just a horror or ghost movie, it certainly has aspects of both, but at the same time tries to be more human and emotional with it’s scary moments, rather than the usual jump out of your seat moments. The ghostly experiences themselves are not over the top in their supernaturalness either; it’s much more like the Sixth Sense than Poltergeist and I think it’s all the better for it. The story has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained whilst not becoming brain meltingly confusing with sub plots and hidden agendas. If you enjoy a good emotional and psychological horror movie then this would be a great choice for a night in.
The Orphanage is a good looking movie, with nice locations and a believable setting. The lack of special effects really does give a certain feel to proceedings, with camera angle, lighting and sound taking precedence thereby making a more involving and natural feeling of scariness. There is careful use of music and sound effects, things are kept simple and down to earth – thankfully there are no scenes where the music kicks in and takes away from what’s happening, even when things get very scary or very emotional.

With the dialog being in Spanish (English Subtitles) the movie may seem a bit daunting, don’t let that, or the upcoming American remake put you off seeing this though. The atmosphere of this movie is very encapsulating and I really doubt that it will be recreated fully by an American film studio. It’s not that I dislike remakes entirely but there are always changes which are unnecessary – The Orphanage feels right as it is.

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