Synopsis: Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, thirty years later, she returns with her husband Carlos and Simon, their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simon's imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Carlos remains skeptical, believing that Simon is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family.
Starring: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona
U.S. Rating: R
Creepy movie! Such an amazing horror movie! I really enjoyed this movie. I'm not a big fan of horror movies, but there are some really good ones that have been added to my favorite list. This has become one of them. The Orphanage (El Orfanato) is a Spanish movie about Laura, a woman who decided to buy the old house that hosted the orphanage where she lived when she was a little girl, and turn it as another orphanage or house for kids with especial needs. Laura and Carlos, her husband, have adopted Simón, a little kid with Aids who says that he's been playing with some "imaginary" friends. Laura and Carlos try to avoid the situation, thinking that it might be a normal stage on every kid's imagination, but soon she'll find out that what Simón said about his "imaginary" friends might be true, after facing the stressful situation of losing Simón after a short discussion with him about his "imaginary" friends, stories and games. When she sees Tomás, the little kid with the mask that Simón drew in a piece of paper, she believes that Simón is not dead and he might have been taken away. The search starts and she won't finish until she finds the truth about Simón's disappearance. Great end! Sad, but great end. I personally didn't know that Guillermo Del Toro would lead a horror movie like this one, since I see him more like a HellBoy, Blade, etc.
What did I like from this movie?
1. Even though The Orphanage is a horror movie, it's an old-fashioned horror movie. Really enjoyable, no "demonic", but more like really creepy ghost situations
2. Tomás, the little boy with the mask, really creepy!
3. I really enjoyed the creepy, scary scene when she's playing 1-2-3 trying to make the kids to come out of their hidden places
4. The old nun, so scary! Especially when she's hidden in the old little storage house
5. I really enjoyed that being a horror movie, it doesn't cross the line of the "evil" line that other horror movies cross
What did I dislike from this movie?
1. The end was kind of sad, even though, it was good for Laura, since it made her happy
I would rate this movie with a 4/5
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona
U.S. Rating: R
Creepy movie! Such an amazing horror movie! I really enjoyed this movie. I'm not a big fan of horror movies, but there are some really good ones that have been added to my favorite list. This has become one of them. The Orphanage (El Orfanato) is a Spanish movie about Laura, a woman who decided to buy the old house that hosted the orphanage where she lived when she was a little girl, and turn it as another orphanage or house for kids with especial needs. Laura and Carlos, her husband, have adopted Simón, a little kid with Aids who says that he's been playing with some "imaginary" friends. Laura and Carlos try to avoid the situation, thinking that it might be a normal stage on every kid's imagination, but soon she'll find out that what Simón said about his "imaginary" friends might be true, after facing the stressful situation of losing Simón after a short discussion with him about his "imaginary" friends, stories and games. When she sees Tomás, the little kid with the mask that Simón drew in a piece of paper, she believes that Simón is not dead and he might have been taken away. The search starts and she won't finish until she finds the truth about Simón's disappearance. Great end! Sad, but great end. I personally didn't know that Guillermo Del Toro would lead a horror movie like this one, since I see him more like a HellBoy, Blade, etc.
What did I like from this movie?
1. Even though The Orphanage is a horror movie, it's an old-fashioned horror movie. Really enjoyable, no "demonic", but more like really creepy ghost situations
2. Tomás, the little boy with the mask, really creepy!
3. I really enjoyed the creepy, scary scene when she's playing 1-2-3 trying to make the kids to come out of their hidden places
4. The old nun, so scary! Especially when she's hidden in the old little storage house
5. I really enjoyed that being a horror movie, it doesn't cross the line of the "evil" line that other horror movies cross
What did I dislike from this movie?
1. The end was kind of sad, even though, it was good for Laura, since it made her happy
I would rate this movie with a 4/5
What did you like or dislike from this movie? What would you rate this movie?
Enjoy it!... Watch it!
I actually LOVED this movie. Even with the subtitles! It was easy to follow along, and was scary yet NOT too scary. I'm not a scary movie kind of person, but this gave just the amount of suspense. The ending was very touching, and I actually had tears in my eyes.
I loved this film. I'm not usually impressed with modern scary films because they're all the same but I really, really liked this one. :-D
That's great!... I loved it! creepy but really entertaining. It kept our total attention!
I could consider it more a suspense/horror movie than just a horror movie.