The Orphanage review

Recently I watched the spanish horror film 'The Orphanage' and have been asked to write a review. First of all I was shocked by how good the film actually was. I have always seen the horror genre as cheap and predictable but this was completely different to what I expected. The movie is set in what was once a humble spanish orphanage, but has become a creepy, creaky and, as we can expect, haunted mansion. The story is based around a woman who was once a resident at the orphanage as a small child but has since decided she wishes to go back and set up her own school for special needs children with her adopted son and husband. As you can guess the horrors of a violant past come back to interrupt her plans.

The film is shot brilliantly with long tracking shots and experiments at unusual angles such as right over the head of the actors. the beauty of the film is most certainly the work of its producer Guillermo del Toro, who is also the director of the famous 'Pan's Labyrinth'. Toro makes full use of the typical horror setting. In some respects the film is very simular the the shinning: A large building in a remote area full of the ghosts of the past. But unlike the shinning this is not fully a horror, the first half hour is just like a family drama. They move in, settle down and then it starts to get creepy. The film does contain the typical horror scares (creeking doors, dark lighting) but also highlights issues we wouldnt noramlly find in the horror genre (adoption, HIV). The film isbt the scariest horror ive seen but it did make me jump at least 4 times and there are parts where the protagonist (laura) is in the orphange all by herself... that is certain to creep anyone out.

All together the film is great, it has a strong narrative helped by the brilliant horror setting and beutifull camera movments. The sound effects were also crutial to why the full is so good (as with every horror). also the ending was a brilliant conclution but may be disliked by uniterlectual audiences. In conclutionb 'The Orphanage' is a brilliant horror but may not be appealing to so horror fans who are just lokking for a fright.