Saturday, February 09, 2008

THE ORPHANAGE

A woman returns to the place she once called home in the Spanish fright fest, THE ORPHANAGE. Laura and Carlos have moved back to the home where Laura was raised as an orphan with their adopted son Simon. Laura has fond memories of her upbringing at the orphanage, and plans on developing new ones by re-opening the orphanage for special needs children. One of these children is Simon, who is suffering from a disease, and a vivid imagination. Laura and Carlos believe Simon has imaginary friends, but Simon believes something quite different.

The careful and creepy touch that director Juan Antonio Bayona uses in THE ORPHANAGE reminds one of the masterful M. Night Shymalan’s work in THE SIXTH SENSE or to a lesser extent, Alejandro Amenabar’s touch to THE OTHERS. The tone, structure and characters are all similar in each of these films, but so are some of the storytelling consistencies, which lend greatly to the suspense, drama and horror. Screen writer Sergio Sanchez employs two games throughout THE ORPHANAGE, both of which add a great deal of tension and anxiety. Imagery is also a strong suit of the film, as masks, dolls and pictures play an integral part in establishing the film’s uneasy atmosphere. If Kidman and Willis were important to THE OTHERS and THE SIXTH SENSE, Spaniard Belen Rueda is crucial to THE ORPHANAGE. Rueda’s Laura is a tenacious mother, hell-bent on saving her boy and preserving her family. Rueda gives a tense and intense performance that is about as good as any from 2007. THE ORPHANAGE is a real find, a suspense-filled horror film that leaves you with chills through the closing credits.

Grade: B+

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