October 04, 2007
The Orphanage (El Orfanato)
Tron saw it before you did!
Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo
Rating: 5/10
Directed By: Juan Antonio Bayona
Runtime: 100 minutes
Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo
Rating: 5/10
Directed By: Juan Antonio Bayona
Runtime: 100 minutes
Spain's Academy submission this year for best foreign language film, The Orphanage plays like other Hallmark horror films such as The Others and The Return in as much as the horror is secondary to the family drama that makes up the core of the tale. Formerly adopted Linda, along with her husband and adopted son Simon, acquire the old orphanage in which she resided as a child with the intention of re-opening it as a home for disabled and abandoned children. Typically, spooky things occur - creaking walls, strange noises, Simon's "invisible playmates"- cumulating in Simon's disappearance. Laura carries out a desperate search for the boy, including but not limited to the hiring of paranormal investigators, but to no avail. The plot becomes confusing as Laura attempts to contact the spirits by reenacting childhood games in an effort to find a trace of Simon, spiraling in and out of reality toward and ending which seems less than satisfying.
Guillermo del Toro thought enough of this movie that he served as executive producer and find U.S. distribution for the film and I can see where a casual fan of horror who enjoys a shiver or two will find this movie entertaining but for genre fans the movie fails to deliver. Belén Rueda's performance is above par and you get a sense of the desperation she feels at losing Simon (and kudos as well to Roger Princep who is as "little boy" as you could want for this role) but in the fear department the film seems to rely on telegraphed scares where it's obvious from the camera placement and scene structuring where the fright is to come and there is an over reliance on sound effects to deliver the punch. The one truly scary moment features a masked child who never really appears in the rest of the film though Bayona shows that he could deliver a truly frightening film if he wanted too. As it stands, the only shivers came from the theater's air conditioning unit.
The Orphanage runs like a smart supernatural thriller that is so smart it forgets the thrills. With the dearth of horror films releasing through the latter half of this year the Orphanage may be more entertaining than most Hollywood releases you may be better served to wait until Lifetime picks it up for cable, maybe as a double-header with The Return. Sigh.
Guillermo del Toro thought enough of this movie that he served as executive producer and find U.S. distribution for the film and I can see where a casual fan of horror who enjoys a shiver or two will find this movie entertaining but for genre fans the movie fails to deliver. Belén Rueda's performance is above par and you get a sense of the desperation she feels at losing Simon (and kudos as well to Roger Princep who is as "little boy" as you could want for this role) but in the fear department the film seems to rely on telegraphed scares where it's obvious from the camera placement and scene structuring where the fright is to come and there is an over reliance on sound effects to deliver the punch. The one truly scary moment features a masked child who never really appears in the rest of the film though Bayona shows that he could deliver a truly frightening film if he wanted too. As it stands, the only shivers came from the theater's air conditioning unit.
The Orphanage runs like a smart supernatural thriller that is so smart it forgets the thrills. With the dearth of horror films releasing through the latter half of this year the Orphanage may be more entertaining than most Hollywood releases you may be better served to wait until Lifetime picks it up for cable, maybe as a double-header with The Return. Sigh.