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Psychological scares and well-rounded characters come together beautifully in The Orphanage.

Guillermo del Toro produces and presents fellow Spaniard Juan Antonio Banyard’s The Orphanage (El Orfanato in its original Spanish).  Since this was originally a Spanish movie, the audio track is in Spanish with English subtitles provided.  Normally I like the ability to be able to watch a movie in English, but this was one of those few movies that so caught me up in it, that I barely even realized I was reading the dialogue after a few scenes.

The Orphanage tells the story of woman named Laura who returns with her husband and son (Carlos and Simón, respectively) to the building that served as the orphanage where she grew up.  Her plan is to turn the old structure into a home for special needs children, but a visit from a social worker and a new imaginary friend for Simón set events in motion that unravel this dream, as well as Laura’s family.

Simón disappears and Laura thinks the some angry phantasm or the ghosts of children she grew up with may haunt the old orphanage.  Months go by as the search for Simón continues and the police can turn up no evidence of his whereabouts.  Laura and Carlos go to therapy meetings and Laura, against Carlos’s thoughts on the subject, hires a group of parapsychologists and a psychic to communicate with the spirits and get them to help find Simón.  Eventually, Laura is left by herself in the house.  She makes grim discoveries and solves the mysteries of the orphanage’s past and present.

The plot unfolds beautifully and naturally (pealing away bit by bit to reveal itself to the audience and the characters), giving a glimpse of what happens to parents once Peter Pan has taken their children to Neverneverland.  The tension of the story is very effective, and the scene transitions are very well done.  The use of foreshadowing is impressive and pays off fantastically for the observant viewer.  Banyard’s homage to Poltergeist, The Shining, Friday the 13th, and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan are done with subtle nods without being rip-offs at all.

Laura is played by Belén Rueda (Savage Grace and The Sea Inside) so wonderfully.  She was very believable whatever emotion she portrayed, be it tenderness, joy, anger, or fear.  I am going to make a point to be on the lookout for more of her work.  Laura’s husband Carlos (played by Fernando Cayo) is a stern but loving man.  Cayo’s performance balances well with Rueda’s.  But the actor that really shines in every scene and does an amazing job every time the camera has him in frame is Roger Príncep (Simón).  He has transfixing eyes and a voice that can be both commanding and exuberant.  Príncep is defiantly one to be on the lookout for as he matures.  Truly a future star, as long as he can avoid the pitfalls of childhood stardom that make up the covers of the gossip rags. 

As for the disc, two things about this DVD got my attention right away.  First, the menu is a nice and simple presentation that still gives off a very creepy vibe without being grotesque or gruesome.  A nice touch in a day and age when horror movies are being produced and presented more and more as gorror flicks.  The other was the amazingly cool credit sequence.  The hands of small children tear away at faded wallpaper.  I saw this as a dual comment on the house.  One shows how the old can be remade into the new (Laura moving her new family in), and the second shows that the discolored present is the remnant state of the lively past (the lives of the children who use to live there years ago have made an impact on the house that endures).

The bonus features are extensive covering make-up, art design, scoring, interviews, etc.  It is obvious the filmmakers are proud of this piece (as they should be).  A lot of effort went into the extras (the conceptual art itself includes over 90 images) and exploring hem was fun and informative.

For horror fans, film buffs, or someone who just wants to have a great time with a fantastic movie, I would highly recommend watching and owning The Orphanage.  A great presentation and fantastic follow-through make this one of the best DVDs I’ve seen all year.

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