Product Description

Belen Rueda, Geraldine Chaplin, Fernando CayoDirector: Juan Antonio Bayona

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6510 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Thriller
• Released on: 2008-07-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Backed by Guillermo del Toro and yet made by a surprisingly inexperienced group of film makers (especially considering the end result), The Orphanage is a chilling, tense supernatural thriller that could certainly teach more established directors a thing or two about how to send shivers down the spine.

It tells the story of a woman, Laura, returning to the orphanage where she was raised as a child. Her plans are to look after sick children there, but it doesn’t take long for things to go awry. Without giving too much away, visions from her past and a threat to her own family are the starting points for a complex and quite haunting thriller, that stays in the mind long after the credits have rolled.

A film that works on more than one level, The Orphanage really is some piece of work. Juan Antonia Bayona, behind the camera, generates an incredibly atmospheric mood that underpins the film, and wisely takes time to put pieces in place. He’s aided by a terrific cast, and an unsettling screenplay that layers in an uneasy horror that’s as anti-Hollywood as it comes.

The result of all of this is one of the scariest films of recent times, and yet something that still manages to be that little bit more, that sticks in your mind for some time afterwards. Make no mistake, The Orphanage really is something different, and all the better for it. --Jon Foster

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

One of the creepiest films I've ever seen
`The Orphanage' from producer Guillermo del Toro is about a woman named Laura who returns to live at the old orphanage where she grew up, with her husband and her adopted son, Símon. Símon has some imaginary friends who play treasure hunt games with him. When he goes missing Laura finds out more about the orphanage and learns that Símon's friends maybe aren't imaginary after all.

First of all, I must say that this is without a doubt one of the creepiest and most atmospheric films that I have ever seen. I am a massive fan of Del Toro's previous film, Pan's Labyrinth, so I couldn't wait to finally see this film. Although it perhaps isn't as good as Pan's Labyrinth overall, it is a lot more gripping and eerie and is one that kept me thinking long after it had finished. I watched this film knowing nothing about it too, so if you can avoid knowing the story before watching this, it is all the better for it as I really didn't know what to expect next.

It got to near the end of the film and I was thinking that the ending didn't make all that much sense but then there is the double twist which made me think - wow, this is a classic. If it hadn't been for the last scene, I think my opinion of this would be a lot different and perhaps my review rating a little lower.

I do like foreign films, although don't watch too many of them, but after about 5 minutes of watching this I didn't even realise I was reading the subtitles anymore as I was just so engrossed in the story. So if that is something that would put you off watching this - don't let it as you will honestly be missing out on one of the best supernatural thrillers ever made.

Overall this is a very chilling and genuinely scary film that I highly recommend. Everything about it from the story, the acting, the atmosphere, the presentation and the music is just brilliant, However, I strongly recommend not watching this alone or every creak in the house will make you wonder what it is!

Creeping, undefined dread
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).

Epic, spine tingling, soul touching - masterpiece.
I have just finished watching this movie and I am in tears.
(And I'm a guy).

Tears, not through fear, but through emotion.

I have never before watched a film with such an incredible plot, twists, and final scene as this.

Yes it makes your hair stand up on end, (time and time again) yet there is little violence if any.

Yes there are creepy scenes and darkness, but this is after all a scary film. It meant to scare you and it does, I lost count how many times I said 'freaky' outloud and felt really un-nerved.

Yet it has a mind blowing end sequence that is just so moving, so touching that you must watch this utterly superb film.

10/10 - never seen anything like it.