As you step onto the moss covered dock, a woman in archaic Victorian garb approaches you. Her dark blonde hair falls to her shoulders in curls and her eyes, a piercing blue framed by dark shadow, stare intently into your own.
Welcome weary traveller, welcome to our beautiful island. I am Lady Summerisle.
How was your journey? Not everyone enjoys flying, and fewer still a landing on the water, but it really is the only way, the mists, you see.
Your room is prepared at The Green Man, our finest Inn, and a hot meal of local fare; and then a welcome rest in a comfy chair and a tipple of your choice, you shall not want for anything. You are, after all, our guest.
Now you are fed and watered and sat cosy by the fire. I hope you will indulge me. I’d like to tell you a story, a ghost story. Do you believe in ghosts? I do hope so, for this story is true, and it happened right here on this island. Out on the west coast, near the lighthouse, was a home for little boys and girls with no parents of their own. Now you wouldn’t think there’d be many children like that on an island this size, but you’d be wrong, or at least you would have been…
Come, bring your chair a little closer to the fire, that’s it. Are you ready? Good.
Despite my love for all things horror, the creepy and the spooky, I’m a sceptic when it comes to ghosts and spirits. I’m not flat out disbelieving in them, and don’t dismiss people when they’ve had their own experiences. Having said that it did seem a little like fate when The Orphanage, the film which less than 24 hours earlier I had taken from the shelf, placed on the sofa beside me, but ultimately not watched, was the film chosen by random number generation out of a possible 94.
Now the only question is, was fate, or the spirits, being kind?
The Orphanage, or El Orfanato, directed by J. A. Bayona, is a Spanish film released in 2007. It follows the lives of Laura, Carlos and their 7 year old son Simón. They have moved into the abandoned orphanage where Laura grew up and they plan to re-open it as a home for disabled children. Simón has the active imagination of a child with no playmates, he makes his own, but are his imaginary friends just that, or something more?
I’m going to leave it at that as far as a synopsis, the back of the box goes into more detail but it’s difficult to say much about the film’s story without spoiling it.
The acting in this film is excellent, the characters feel real and their relationship to each other feels natural. Belén Rueda, who plays Laura, is particularly great and makes you feel every emotion. The atmosphere, from the fantastic location, to the cinematography, to the music, does an equally good job of making you smile, or creeping you out, as it does at making you cry, something which I do very rarely but did watching this as it has some truly upsetting moments.
I found The Orphanage to be one of those rare films that had me thinking about it for days afterwards. It’s very affecting, something which many horror films fail at. If you’re looking for a Boo! Ghosts! story then this probably isn’t the film you’re looking for. It’s described as a ghost story, and it has its fair share of the supernatural, but ultimately I would describe it more as a psychological horror, concentrating on the themes of loss and grief. This is what makes The Orphanage a true horror film, it’s all too real at times.
I’m pleased to be able to say that The Orphanage is not just one of the best horror films I’ve seen, it’s one of the best films. I like it when a film has an impact on my thoughts outside of its runtime, this certainly did. Part of me felt unsure about the high score I’m about to award this, it is the first film after all, but no, this isn’t about awarding half marks and it isn’t about comparing films to one another, it’s about how I feel about a particular film. Therefore, in the spirit of, and entirely influenced by, Adam Pranica, I’m going to award this film a score out of 5 of something representing this film.
The Orphanage receives 5 Seashells out of a possible 5. Maximum points! As a horror fan, or just a fan of films in general, you owe it to yourselves to watch this.
**WARNING** SPOILERS BELOW **WARNING**
Welcome to the spoiler section. This is the part where I can bring up some specific parts of the film which I’d like to talk about more, whether they be good, or bad. I’m generally going to keep these sections to a similar length as the main review rather than going over everything that happens.
One of the first big reveals in this film is the fact that Simón is ill, and not with a disease you might expect for a 7 year old, he has HIV. It never explains how he contracted it, but that’s also not particularly relevant to the story. It seems to be there to heighten the tension when he goes missing as he’s supposed to take medication every day, so every day they don’t find him is a day he is becoming sicker. It also fits with the idea that those close to death are closer to spirits and so see them when others don’t, though advances in medicine perhaps make this less effective than at the time of release.
I felt they did a great job with the supernatural side of the film, it’s never too overblown and manages to keep it at a level where, should you wish, you can perceive it as a manifestation of grief rather than actual spirits.
An honourable mention goes to excellent creepy old lady Benigna who does a great job of being extremely suspicious and odd, right before she’s mown down in one of the most unexpected and surprisingly gruesome scenes, but then as it turns out she murdered a bunch of kids so we’re not too torn up about it.
What did leave me torn up was the big reveal when Laura finally finds Simón. In a somewhat hidden basement Laura finds Simón, still dressed as he was at the party 9 months ago, dead and somewhat decomposed. She realises with horror that he had been hiding down here and during her frantic search for him, Laura had pushed some heavy supports up against the only exit, trapping him down there. Laura had heard her Son’s desperate attempts to get out, before hearing the crash of him falling to his death from the staircase, we witness the earlier scene from Laura’s point of view and at the time we, like her, think it’s ghosts making the noises. This…this was the scene that truly made this a film I’ll remember for a long time, the absolute anguish, leading to her subsequent suicide, of Laura realising she had inadvertently killed her own son. That, is true horror.
Summerisle 