El Orfanato
By John • Aug 9th, 2008 • Category: 4 Stars, Drama, HorrorThis is the type of horror movie that I like. A moody horror with great characters, an interesting plot and no gore at all.
The plot is nothing original, it’s the typical ghost story. But what makes this great is the great performance of Belen Rueda as Laura, a desperate mother who lost her son Simon. She really grounds this story with her performance, I really felt for her loss.
The scene with the group of ghost experts was a bit of a cliche’ for me, nothing we haven’t seen before. That being said, the performance was good enough to make it work. The husband’s reaction as a skeptical is also cliche’, on the other hand if I were him I would probably be skeptical too. Though I would try to support my wife as much as possible.
The red-herring was provided by the old lady, who became the main suspect for Simon’s disappearance. When she turns up again I was shocked by what happened. That was a quick way to crush (no pun intended) our suspicions of her.
And then we get the finale. The final act was not only very well shot, it provided great tension (especially when she’s playing that game with the children) and it gave us great hope for Simon. I knew something was not right, but the reveal was totally unexpected. And then we get the final scene between Laura and Simon, which was both endearing and heartbreaking. In that sense this ending reminded me of Pan’s Labyrinth.
This is really a great movie with some scares but great characterization and a good plot twist. But most of all a great ending. Check it out.
Rating: 4 Stars
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