Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7005 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-01-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Synopsis
It might come as no surprise that the producer of the Spanish supernatural thriller THE ORPHANAGE is none other than Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro (PAN’S LABYRINTH, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE), for his influence is felt greatly throughout the picture. Made by an entire crew of newcomers--director Juan Antonio Bayona, screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez, director of photography Oscar Faura, composer Fernando Velazquez--THE ORPHANAGE is an extremely accomplished work. The story concerns Laura (Belen Rueda), who has returned with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted child Simon (Roger Princep) to the large manor where she was raised in an orphanage as a child. Laura is determined to fix up the abandoned house and open it as a refuge for ill children. But from the moment she returns, the past begins to haunt her. It isn't long before she begins to see the children who she used to play with as a seven-year-old. And when Simon goes missing one afternoon, she's convinced that they have taken him hostage. What follows is a murky descent into Laura's mind, where she doesn't know what is real and what is a figment of her tortured imagination.


Bayona brings Sanchez's complex script to life with the help of Faura's haunting imagery and Valazquez's atmospheric score. But what makes THE ORPHANAGE an even greater achievement is its insistence on being more than just a superficial scare-fest. Bayona and Sanchez are more interested in deeper themes of memory, loss, and grief, establishing Laura as a mother who feels guilt over not being able to protect her child from outside forces. The result is a film that is both unsettling and moving.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant Spanish movie
Hitchcock used an example to explain the difference between surprise and suspense. If people are seated at a table and a bomb explodes, that is surprise. If they are seated at a table, and you know there's a bomb under the table attached to a ticking clock, but they continue to play cards -- that's suspense. There's a bomb under "The Orphanage" for excruciating stretches of time.


I was expecting the slow-moving "Orphanage" to descend into routine shock and horror movie, or even into the pits with the slasher pictures. But it doesn't. Most of the movie is all waiting, anticipating and dreading. The jolts that come about midway are of a similar magnitude to movies such as Sixth Sense and Blair Witch Project.


The story (no spoilers here) of `The Orphanage' focuses on Laura, who as a young girl was raised in the orphanage before being taken away one day and adopted. Now in her 30s, she has returned with her husband and their young son Simon (who has imaginary friends). They have plans to turn the Orphanage into a home for sick/ disabled children. But before they can embark on this venture, Simon vanishes.


Laura is the main character in this movie; we are inside her tormented mind. Her husband only appears in a few scenes and all the other characters in the move are minor parts compared to Laura. Laura spends months trying to find her son and she seeks help from a psychic, the Police, and her son's imaginary friends.
All the while Laura embarks on a quest to retrieve him that will push her to the limit of sanity.


The film is slow moving, but it manages to expertly linger to create atmosphere, a sense of place, a sympathy with the characters, instead of rushing into cheap thrills.
The Orphanage stands as one of the most beautiful and moving horror movies in recent memory.


As it gears up for a truly unexpected, emotionally draining finale - destined to please or frustrate depending on how nihilistic you like your horror - this elegant ghost story ignores genre conventions to deliver a touching tale of motherhood, love and what may or may not lie on the other side. The last time a movie affected me as much as this was five years ago when I was blown away by `The Vanishing' (the original Dutch movie, not the USA remake).

Good old fashioned suspense scary film!


I loved this film. I'm not into gorey, blood-laden, torture scary films but ones which slowly unwind and are full of suspense.

The film unravels gently and the viewer is drawn in ....

Don't be put off by reading Spanish subtitles. In a way it helps distance you and leave you hanging on even more than were you to immediately comprehend.

There are many foreign films I admire and this is one of them. I recommend you
watch this beautifully crafted film as you are snuggled up at home one evening ...!

An insightful ghost story
I am a big fan of Guillermo Del Toro's films and I know that as he has a fascination with what actually constitutes a ghost (also questioned in his film 'The Devil's Backbone - another brilliant film), that this film would go in a different direction to what is expected.

This film is a ghost story that is not a ghost story - it's the only way I can think of putting it!

I found the characters believable- the mother is desparate and voices her physical pain, whereas the father is also in pain but is controlled, introverted and rational. The little boy is adorable and plays his part very well. The other characters are also well cast and their parts well written - there is one character in particular who is quite creepy in a night-time scene (don't want to ruin it). No special effects were used for the scene, just brilliant lighting and cinematography.

If you are expecting the drama and 'flash' of Pan's Labyrinth, you may be initially disappointed. But keep watching as it is worthy of your attention and can be very creepy with very little 'interference' from CGI effects.