The Orphanage (2007)

18 months back, or so, the world was astonished as three Mexican directors produced three exceptional and successful films. One of those three, Alfonso Cuáron, said in an interview last year that the trio (himself, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu & Guillermo del Toro) considered themselves to be nothing in comparison to "what is to come".

With "The Orphanage", executive produced by del Toro, we get to see some work from the first of the new Hispanic wave, namely the Spaniard Juan Antonio Bayona. Although del Toro's name is plastered all over the posters, this is undeniably Bayona's film who, with stylish photography, effective design and confident direction, makes this a fantastically gripping and moving piece of work.

It is a staggeringly bold and extremely exciting feature debut by this director. From the very first shot, the audience can see that this director has style and an eye for striking images. But he also knows how to manipulate an audience. The early scenes grip the audience as Bayona builds up a tense atmosphere, filled with the sort of menace that Hitchcock created in so many films.

Then, when the supernatural plot gets going, he fills the film with enough memorable visual touches and "crash, bang, wallop" moments to keep you on the edge of your seat. A number of scenes excel, especially one where a medium is used in the eponymous orphanage and wanders the apparently empty corridors, viewed in the eerie green of night vision. It is a magnificent, thrilling scene and, although it sounds clichéd, it is fresh, inventive and spine-chilling.

But this film is so much more than a nuts and bolts ghost story. The film ends with a wonderful, moving twist that is at once heart-breaking and utterly uplifting. This is an engrossing and thrilling film and a triumph of superior direction but it is the film's intelligent and philosophical side that stays with you, long after your spine has stopped tingling.

Fmovies: The former orphan Laura (Belén Rueda) raises her adopted son Simón (Roger Príncep) with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. Simón is HIV positive and tells Laura that he has five invisible friends, and she believes they are fruit of his imagination. Laura decides to reopen an orphanage for handicapped children in the location and during the opening party, Simón calls her to show the little cabin of his friend Tomás. The busy Laura does not gives much attention to her son; then she sees a mysterious masked boy and Simón vanishes. Laura feels the presence of other persons in the house and months later, the desperate Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery.

"El Orfanato" is a creepy and spooky ghost story with a dark and very sad atmosphere. The screenplay, direction, acting and cinematography are great, disclosing a dramatic and sensitive plot that explores the disappearance of a young boy with touches of supernatural in the despair of his mother. However, the explanation of the mystery in the end makes this sensitive movie actually a drama, and not horror genre, and maybe that is the reason why some viewers have written bad reviews (or maybe they have not understood the plot). My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Orfanato" ("The Orphanage")

Note: On 25 January 2015 I saw this movie again on Blu-Ray.

I'm a little bit tired of horror and suspense films. I had to get to the cinema because I could not say no to my girlfriend. Now I do not regret the wonderful evening I spent. This film achieved what others did not- I could not release my girlfriend's hand all over the time, and when the story finished I discovered there was nothing unexplained. A great suspense film I recommend. Belén Rueda, is a completely credible character and the place where the story has been shot helps make it realistic or, at least, the viewer gets into the environment created. The rest of actors are good and Geraldine Chaplin's scene is one of the most creepy I've ever seen

The Orphanage fmovies. I pretty much knew with relative certainty and from beforehand that "The Orphanage" wasn't going to be my cup of tea. Slow-brooding ghost stories almost never appeal to me and I didn't even care for producer Guillermo Del Toro's own and critically acclaimed "The Devil's Backbone". But, considering the hugely positive internet buzz as well as the endless amount of praising reviews on this website, I – being a devoted horror fanatic – simply couldn't afford to ignore this Spanish instant classic entirely. Well, the only thing I can conclude after seeing the film is that "The Orphanage" is exactly what you expect from a relatively soft, mainstream and overall ethically correct modern day horror production; whether it's made in Spain, Japan or elsewhere in the world. Obviously it's an extremely professionally made film, with a handful of memorable style elements and effective jump moments, but in the end it really isn't much more than just another derivative and predictable 'ghosts from the past coming back to haunt us' tale that lack the courage to go very far. Undoubtedly the qualitatively greatest aspect about "The Orphanage" is the naturally sinister setting. The events take place in an old and remote orphanage – duh – located near a quiet beach with an inactive lighthouse and a wide network of sinister caves. Laura, who spend her childhood here, returns with her husband and 7-year-old son and intends to re-open the orphanage specifically for orphans with a mental and/or physical handicap. On the day of the opening, however, Laura's own son Simon – who's also adopted and chronically ill – mysteriously disappears without a trace. Months go by without a sign of life and Laura understandably starts to get desperate. Was Simon kidnapped by the uncanny lady who arrived at the orphanage and posed as a social assistant shortly before his disappearance? Or perhaps Laura should have listened more to her son's stories about the invisible friends he made, as they seem to know an awful lot of accurate details about the orphanage's dark past. Somewhat to my anticipated frustration, "The Orphanage" contains all the clichés and stereotypes the sub genre of ghost stories has to offer. There's the overly fanatic mother versus the rational father, the eccentric and somewhat flamboyant spiritual medium, the morbid old lady that may or may not be real and of course a wide collection of pity-evoking long dead children whose souls are restless. The young and relatively inexperienced director J.A. Bayona does an impressive job maintaining the macabre ambiance all the way from start to finish, but sadly it isn't enough to qualify as a masterpiece in the genre. There's only just ONE that really made me jump towards the edge for my seat for a little while, namely the second confrontation with the elderly lady in the middle of a busy street. Although this is unquestionably a truly masterful sequence, it's nearly not enough as far as I'm concerned. Many fans glorify the finale, but the whole third act actually just confirmed to me that "The Orphanage" rather wanted to be a sentimental melodrama about the true values of family and motherly love. When it comes to (Spanish) ghost stories of the past 10 to 20 years, Amenábar's unique and already classic "The Others" is still the norm and "The Orphanage" is not likely to change that.

Laura returns with her family to the orphanage she grew up in as a child, she reopens it for handicapped children and all is going to plan until her son starts communicating with an invisible friend...

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona & produced by Guillermo del Toro, this Spanish picture is a delightful antidote to the ream of gore for gore sake movies flooding the market on a seemingly daily basis. This is not a horror movie as such, this is one of those pictures that oozes old fashioned values as regards telling a grand old ghost story with mysterious undertones. The setting is perfect, the orphanage of the piece is a ghostly monolithic structure that has all those perfectly shadowy rooms that are hiding secrets, expansive gardens perfectly framed in aura by Bayona's willingness to let the setting be an integral part of the story. The story is a creepy one, and there is always an added air of unease when children are the focal point of the piece in question, and sure enough this central concept of troubled children and troubled childhoods gets the maximum amount of emotion from the viewing public.

It's hard to write anymore than I have without delving deeper into the story and it's significant turn of events, suffice to say I feel this is a wonderful creepy, and at times beautiful, film that prospective viewers would be better off going into devoid of any prior knowledge. Belén Rueda plays Laura and it's a marvellous performance from her, full of emotion and guts, she carries the film with skillful ease. Bayona directs carefully, and it's evident that he is benefiting from the guiding hands of his gifted producer, but his marker is here and I'll be keeping an eye out for future efforts from the young Spaniard.

A smashingly engaging film that is in the vein of Robert Wise's The Haunting & Alejandro Amenábar's The Others, so if you like real well told ghost stories that unhinge rather than shock you, get in the queue because El Orfanato is a real pleasure. 9/10

Attended the first commercial screening of The Orphanage (El Orfanato) last night at FrightFest, London.

Juan Antonio Bayona and writer Sergio G. Sanchez have delivered something really special for their first feature.

I have never jumped out of my seat like I did last night, nor my partner, nor most of the audience it seemed. Apart from the terrific scares, there are solid performances from the whole cast, stunning cinematography, and the editing is flawless. If I had to criticise one element, it is that the music swells just a little too much a couple of times, but it is a good score nonetheless.

See this one at the cinema.