Halloween Movie Marathon Part 2
The Orphanage

"The Orphanage" is just about the perfect scary movie.  It really is the most fun I've had watching a film after dark since the golden age of Shymalan (oh, those were the days).  Men, if you have significant others (or prospective ones) this is the perfect opportunity to have them jump straight into your arms.  They just won't have any choice.  Miss Schmunk actually screamed out loud twice during this film which left me with the pleasant job of consoling her nerves (though mine were just as tense).

Well-meaning couple Laura and Carlos move into the abandoned orphanage where Laura grew up for sentimental reasons and also to establish a new home for mentally handicapped children.  Their son Simon's obsession with a group of imaginary friends causes Laura to wonder if there is someone from her past that still haunts the building.

This is horror for old souls.  Juan Antonio Bayona pays no attention to the recent wave of nihilism that has infested our thrillers, and puts sympathetic characters and real villains into his ghost story.  Empathy is one of the fundamental tenets of fear (just ask Sophocles), and it just makes for good old fashioned drama.  He also has a deep appreciation for both the rich tradition of Spanish horror, and familiar old-Hollywood styles.  Both are represented here with loving flourishes.  Belen Rueda delivers a strong lead performance and is someone that the audience can really get attached to.

Bayona's scares are twofold, one complimenting the other.  He perfectly captures that "unknown" quality that is so necessary for ghost stories, but then, just when you think you've got his number, he jumps over the line to outright horror.  There was one scene in particular (which I will not spoil) that completely upended all of my expectations for the film.  You'll know it when you see it.  Bayona's willingness to dip (if sparingly) into the graphic depictions of the grotesque, derails the film just enough from its rich air of melancholy so that when we return to the shadows, we really are afraid of what might be lurking back there.

Beyond the fright, this film has a great story.  It's full of tragedy, mystery and dedication, the stuff of great classic cinema.  Some of the locales evoke such classics as Rebecca and Spellbound.  Bayona's fondness for classic suspense coupled with his willingness to break from those traditions gives 'The Orphanage' heart and horror in equal measure.

The Orphanage:  A


Type of scare:  Haunting, eerie, mysterious, with some sparing moments of real shock.