Synopsis:

Laura moves into her childhood orphanage alongside her husband Carlos and adopted son Simón.  Simón suffers from an illness and his imagination runs wild with invisible friends.  After a unique turn of events, Laura is thrust into discovering the mysteries of the orphanage she left so long ago. 

The Freak's Rating: A : What is it about a horror movie involving children that makes it twice as terrifying?  Our friend Leah is quite disturbed by this frightening trend in filmmaking.  The Orphanage (El Orfanato) is her worst nightmare.  Part horror movie, part mystery, The Orphanage is the latest Spanish film presented by Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro.  Though del Toro didn't direct the film, he was instrumental in its production from start to finish.

Part horror movie and part mystery, The Orphanage succeeds on multiple levels.  As a foreign language film, some will avoid it basen on subtitle-reading alone.  For the purists out there (as my friend Caahlen recently said), this one will entertain better than you can imagine.  The set design, lighting and camera work are artistic and haunting, pulling you into The Orphanage and giving the building its own personality.  With some of Spain's finest actors aboard, the performances are stellar.  The soundtrack of this film is fantastic, creeping you out with orchestration and leaving you breathless with silence.  The Blu Ray disc of this film contains a 7.1 DTS Master Audio track that is perhaps the best I've heard so far.  For those of you with Blu Ray capability, you owe it to yourself to give this disc a spin. 

This film has some of the scariest moments I've ever seen on film.  The creepiness factor is turned up as high as I've ever experienced it and I was cringing in my seat during some parts.  If I'm set to watch a scary movie by myself, I typically make sure all doors are locked and retreat to my theater.  I made it about 10-15 minutes into The Orphanage and decided two things: 1 - this was going to be good and I wanted someone else to enjoy this with me, 2 - I didn't want to watch it alone in the house.  Call me a coward, but as you might have realized, I throw myself completely into a film and suspend disbelief on a level most can never reach. 

As with many scary movies, The Orphanage probably won't be as scary the second time around.  Normally knowing where the jumps are prevents you from enjoying it as much the second time around.  However, having a mystery-based storyline lends repeatability to see the clues and I'm sure I'll still jump.  Jen & I are still discussing the story today and it truly does haunt you for a bit.  This is a great film that won't get the audience it deserves unfortunately.  If you want a great scare and a wonderful story, pick this one up.

Jen's Rating: A : This movie was so good in so many ways!  I had no idea what to expect of this film before watching it and even while watching it.  It's subtitled but that doesn't bother me one bit.  It's suspenseful yet also a mystery tied into one and keeps you at the edge of your seat the entire time!  You'll want to watch it again the instant it's over.  I wouldn't really classify this movie as a horror movie though.  I guess horror to me is lots of killing and blood and that wasn't in this.  I could be wrong though.  Excellent all around!  The ending is perfect, ties everything together.  I would recommend this movie to anyone...except maybe Leah who doesn't like scary children in movies.

Brian's Rating: A : Wow!  An amazing film.  I haven't seen a horror movie this good since "The Exorcist".  I have never heard of the guy who directed The Orphanage, but he has got an excellent career ahead of him.  I was amazed at how well the different scenes and shots were put together, as well as the background sounds and ambiance.  I envy Scott getting to listen to the audio in uncompressed 7.1.

I trust Scott when he says this has got the stamp of Guillermo del Toro in it.  This makes me want to bump up some of his films in my queue.  I only ever heard of him because he was chosen to direct "The Hobbit".

This is one of the top 3 movies I have seen in the past year.   I highly recommend it.
 

Jennifer M's Rating: B : I really loved Pan's Labrynth and was excited to see Del Toro's next movie.  I enjoyed The Orphanage and thought it was creepy especially towards the end, but it was not as good as PL.  I do look forward to his work with the Hobbit and think that he will partner well with Peter Jackson.

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