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Making a horror film is clearly a foreign language
to most film directors. How else to explain the horribly
mutated batch that we've gotten over the last three decades?
It was always assumed horror films were the easiest to make
because, well, they're JUST horror films. In reality, they
are among the most difficult to make well but the easiest
to make cheaply. So it's fitting that the latest parade
of horror films made in the United States were adapted from
foreign horror films and even more so that the best produced
to date have been in a foreign language with a foreign director
at the helm. **
"The Orphanage" executive producer by Guillermo del
Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth", "Hellboy", "Chronos" and "Mimic")
is beautifully shot, written and directed. The fact that
del Toro DIDN'T direct the film is a plus in a way. While
his fingerprints are obvious on the film J.A. Bayona does
a great job and takes the story in some unexpected directions.
***
Laura (Belen Rueda in a very spirited performance) who
was raised at an orphanage moves back to her now deserted
home with her husband and adopted son to help board children.
What she doesn't realize is that there are no vacancies;
the place is occupied by the ghosts of the children who
died there. She has to discover what happened to these children
and why before the house takes its toll on her own family.
Haunted by the specter of other del Toro films, you would
think that this film would cover tired ground. That's far
from the case--this is an excellent, involving, moody and
ultimately atmospheric horror film (which is what horror
films became before they decided to open the door all the
time and show the monster--thereby robbing the films of
much of their suspense). ---
Image & Sound:
"The Orphanage" looks extremely good. Colors are sold
throughout and the eye catching cinematography looks astonishingly
accurate compared to the original theatrical presentation
of the film. ***
Audio is expertly used to creep out viewers. We get
both a 5.1 and 6.1 DTS ES soundtracks which display the
audio to its best advantage. ---
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