Review of The Orphanage (2007) by Icy C — 16 Oct 2010

When my friends and I were arguing as to what to watch on our netflix we stumbled upon 'The Orphanage' (or 'El Orfanato' as its formally titled. We decided to watch it having all shared a love for the projects of Guillermo Del Toro, Director of 'Hellboy' and 'Pans Labyrinth'.

Del Toro, who produced this film, has a nack for horror in film that I very much enjoy and that is highly underrated these days. Films with his name attached to it seem to consist of horror that I will call "Spielberg Horror". I call it that because the film consists of an esthetic that is genuingly scarry but contains an elemnet of fanticy and the unknown that keeps the audience watching in excitement rather than turning away in disgust. And 'The Orphanage" does just that very well.

The film takes place in Spain where a woman Laura purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring and reopening the long abandoned facility as a place for disabled children. Once there, Laura discovers that the new environment awakens her son's imagination, but the ongoing fantasy games he plays with an invisible friend quickly turn into something more disturbing (I took this from the official synopsis to save time).

Del Toro also presents a very talented director for this film, Juan Antonio Bayona who shows great promise under Del Toros hand. Some of his shots have were the most well composed I've seen in a long time.

Thats not to say the film doesn't have its problems. The score at sometimes can be totally inappropriate, sometimes conjuring up a Harry Potter tone where the audience should be worried about what is happening and can completely take you out of the movie.

Overall though, what makes 'The Orphanage' great is that it isn't a cruel practice of sadism and torture porn. It touches on genuine feelings of loss, guilt, and the unknown. Which can give anyone the creeps!