Creepy orphans = feel good movie? 'Tis true!

I went to this movie knowing very little. I do that sometimes....see movies I know barely anything about:

1. It involved Guillermo Del Toro, who directed Hellboy (don't judge...not a bad flick) and El Labertino del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)...which I ADORED. I thought he directed this too, but it turns out he's a producer. Whatever...I'll take the bait.

2. It was some kind of a Spanish horror movie. I'd seen the trailer only once and the Del Toro thing had already hooked me. This looked to me like a haunted house movie, a genre in which we are hard-pressed to find GOOD flicks. Fine.

3. The main character grew up in the house she lives in now...it was the orphanage she lived in. And it's haunted. SOLD.

That's it. I knew nothing else. I thought I'd enjoy it. Good movies don't come out often and it's been quite a while since I NEEDED to see a movie. This opened and I really wanted to see it, since it looked like a quality horror/psychological something-or-other kind of movie. I didn't realize it would be equally haunting, touching, and would keep me pretty well freaked-out for almost the whole thing.

If a movie can make me jump more than once, and keep me genuinely on edge in suspense, I'm a happy girl. (LOVED The Forgotten - I was actually on a blind date for that one....I almost jumped in the guy's lap at the car accident....egad!) Throw in some great games and some really creepy hauntings, I'm paying close attention. Add a dash of classic literature and you've got me, hook, line, and sinker.

Directed by J. A. Bayona, El Orfanato stars Belen Rueda as Laura, a woman who now owns the orphanage in which she grew up. She and her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), plan to utilize it as a home for special kids. Their adopted son, Simon, adorably played by Roger Princep, has imaginary friends, a great personality, and, tragically, HIV. (Side note...most of these actor names have accents, but I can't figure a way to get an accent in this type, so it's bugging me right now....) Anyway. Simon's two starter imaginary friends, Pepe and Walton, get replaced by Tomas and five other children. His parents are slightly concerned, but, hey...imaginative kid...no harm.

Simon disappears one day while Laura and Carlos are hosting a welcoming party for their special kids' families. He's missing for quite some time, and now their home is creaking, doors are slamming, and a small boy in a sack mask keeps showing up in the hallways. Obviously, Laura will stop at nothing to find Simon - posters, support groups, mediums/paranormal experts (you KNOW I loved this sequence....ten times freakier than Poltergeist's!).

This movie is so suspenseful, you won't want to tear your eyes away. The tie-ins to literature and Laura's childhood are extremely touching and the movie's resolution just makes the film an experience. It rings familiar with a novel by Orson Scott Card called Lost Boys - no - no relation to that awesome vampire flick we all love. Card's novel is fabulous...add that to your list, too. I won't give away which piece of literature is utilized here, but as Pan's Labyrinth used Alice in Wonderland, this other classic is used just as wonderfully.

I don't often leave suspense/horror films with the feeling of elation and wonder that I did tonight. As far as I'm concerned, this movie is close-to, if not completely, perfect.
Those of you who whine about foreign films and subtitles need to get over yourselves. El Orfanato(The Orphanage), like Life is Beautiful, Cinema Paradiso, and El Labertino del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), is so spectacular, you have to make the effort to get over not wanting to "read" your movies. There's no effort whatsoever. This movie will captivate you and your imagination....if you're anything like me, that is.



Available on DVD on April 22, 2008