Those of us who are becoming quick to loathe the current state of affairs that is the horror film genre will find a much appreciated respite in the Spanish-language thriller El Orfanato (The Orphanage). But when the film bears a name like Guillermo Del Toro, one of cinema's most original luminaries, one shouldn't be too surprised. No doubt, Del Toro leveraged his success with the stunning Pan's Labyrinth to deliver this spooky send up of the classic haunted house tales we all love so much.
As a young girl, Laura was one of several orphans that lived in an old manor that towers over the children like creaky, old castle. After a brief glimpse of young Laura and her sickly and defective foster-siblings, she is adopted out and already we are filled with a foreboding sense of dread as we find Laura as a grown woman, now a wife and mother. With her husband, Carlos and son, Simon, Laura has returned to this place to reopen the orphanage as a school for special children. But soon after, Simon befriends an imaginary boy named Tomas and not long after do things go bump, floorboards go creeeaaaak and your skin begins to crawl at the thought of what could be there. Blowing off her son's imagination leads Laura to confront one of her hidden most secrets and during the welcome party for the newly reopened Orphanage, Simon disappears without a trace. In one of the film's first and effectively scary moments, Laura frantically searches the house for Simon only to discover a young child, wearing orphan's clothes and a scarecrow's sack-cloth mask. But still no Simon. Soon Laura believes that supernatural forces are to blame and the film ratchets up the suspense as Laura exhaust every possibility for her son's disappearance. One that will dig up a terrifying tragedy from her own innocence.
The Orphanage is director Juan Antonio Bayona's first feature length debut and he delivers a delightfully eerie film filled with creeps and jolts that will satisfy any craving for reason to leap from ones seat. Directing from a screenplay by Sergio G Sanchez, Bayona creates an unsettling film swelling with dread and cringe inducing sound design. The creaky old Orphanage House itself is a classic element of any good horror film and this one will stand with the best of 'em. Cavernous, dark and old, your hair will stand on end simply with the creek of a door, a looming shot of a shadowed corner or the high-pitched groan of a metal merry-go-round creaking in the wind on the front lawn. The Orphanage takes you down a path of supernatural thrills and hauntings but the truth to this mystery may hold a more simple and deeply disturbing answer. And to my delight, The Orphanage packs one of the better "twist" endings in a horror film for quite some time. One that will certainly leave audiences heartbroken and shocked.
I must say that for as good as The Orphanage is, it's quite depressing that we continue to be schooled by foreign filmmakers when it comes to horror. It's actually rather embarrassing. Not to say that there's some sort of right of ownership to the genre or anything, but rather we were doing so well for a while, what with films such as The Exorcist and The Shining. Instead, nowadays, we get disappointingly unscary films like Hostel I and II and the atrocious Halloween remake that feel more like disgusting human anatomy courses than entartaining and SCARY HORROR FILMS!!!! It seems like all that's attempted is to make some futile attempt to rehash a classic(Rob Zombie!) or schlack the sexually preoccupied, vacuous american varnish onto the body of a classic foreign horror film(Eli Roth!). It makes me wonder everytime I have to read and be scared at the same time; Will we ever get it right again?
Till next time,
Chaz