El Orfanato

Since there’s been so much tech talk floated around recently I thought it would be a good idea to break it up with a short write up on a great movie I saw last night called The Orphanage.

While it was directed by a relative newcomer (Juan Antonio Bayona), it shares a visual style very similar to last years critically acclaimed horror tale Pan’s Labyrinth (no surprises since it was produced by Guillermo del Toro). If you’ve seen the above mentioned movie then you should know that the Spanish are building up a great reputation for delivering some really atmospheric scares.

It won’t try to spoil the the story too much but the basic premise revolves around a haunted house & a missing child. While this can originally be construed as being rather cliche, it didn’t take long before I was totally sucked into the tale & wondering where it was going to take me.

A sombre soundtrack, great camera work and a fantastic setting help to deliver a creepy & suspenseful vibe throughout (look out for the scene featuring paper mache masks). I usually hate movies that rely on cheap scare tactics to get their thrills (I’m looking at you Scream) & even though there’s a couple of instances of this, I’ve never seen them used this successfully before. Thankfully these moments are not overdone & will instead leave you with some memorable scenes that you’ll want to discuss long after you leave the cinema.

If you’ve been paying attention to the smaller aspects of the story the ending can also be interpreted a couple of ways. Therefore this is one of those rare movies where I wanted to go back & watch it straight away so I could try & unravel the twists a little more.

Final Verdict: If you’re a fan of REAL horror movies and none of that goregasm slasher shit they churn out now days (saw,hostel,etc), then you’ll love this movie & you should definitely check it out.

4 – 4.5 / 5 (depending on your interpretation of the ending).