Criticult.Com

The Orphanage (2007)

It’s not often we get a good and scary ghost story that doesn’t involve horrific violence and scenes of dismemberment and torture. Hell, it’s not often we get a horror movie lately that doesn’t turn one’s stomach with the violence. That is why the Guillermo Del Toro produced The Orphanage is so refreshing. This Spanish made movie takes its' scares seriously and will have you on edge the entire time you are watching while keeping the gore to an absolute minimum. This is a haunted house story where the haunters are largely unseen and extremely spooky sound effects take center stage.

Laura and Carlos buy the seaside orphanage where Laura spent part of her youth with plans to turn it into a home for developmentally disabled children. One day she is visited by a creepy social worker named Benigna and not long after her son, Simon, goes missing. Laura becomes convinced that her son is still alive and as increasingly strange events continue to unfold, Laura and her husband, Carlos, slowly unravel the mystery of the orphanage.

This is one of the drop dead scariest movies in quite a while. Sharing much in common with Del Torro’s own highly recommended The Devil’s Backbone, the movie never lets up the tension and even the most mundane of activities are sinister and frightening. There is one quiet scene half way though when Laura is speaking to her husband in the middle of the night after he climbs into bed. As the scene wears on something begins to not feel right. There is no music, no sudden cuts, just a foreboding that settles in. Then Laura hears something in the bathroom, sees the shadow of someone beyond the door, the door knob slowly turns and I spill my popcorn all over my couch.

If The Orphanage stumbles, it is only with the questions that are left when it is over. There may be some lost in translation moments here because the movie is Spanish with English subtitles. There is no dub, so be warned if reading is not your thing. Personally, I can’t stand English dubs and much prefer watching a film in its’ intended language but I know many people do not. That said, minor plot issues aside The Orphanage is well worth your time if you love old school ghost stories like The Changeling and The Shining.

4/5

Dark Blue (2002)

My copy of this movie crapped out around chapter 22 and didn’t start up again until chapter 28. Luckily this is one of those movies that features a big scene at the end where one character recaps what has happened so even though major characters were killed I still could follow along.

Kurt Russell stars as Edwin, a corrupt cop in LA on the eve of the Rodney King verdict in 1991. Edwin and his partner Chase (Scott Speedman) are assigned an investigation into a convenience store robbery that begins to uncover far more than initially suspected. There is little here that fans of cop melodramas haven’t seen before. The cast is solid, with Ving Rhames and Brendon Gleeson along of the ride as well. I’ll be honest, I got this one because Kurt Russell is in it and I just hadn’t seen it yet. Russell is a hell of an underappreciated actor and has starred in some of my favorite movies (The Thing, Escape from New York , Big Trouble in Little China). This is not his best work, but it is entertaining and a different character from the ones he usually plays. Recommended for Kurt Russell fans and gritty police drama completionists.

3/5

Spellbound (2002)

This 2002 documentary slipped us by and the kids were asking to see it so we obliged. Spellbound follows the lives of 8 kids as the prepare and then arrive at the National Spelling Bee in 1999. This one was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary and it is entertaining. I enjoyed it and so did the kids, but I don’t see a reason to see it again. Despite trying to shed some light into the home life of the competitors the movie came across as a bit trite and clichéd. Still, it’s good family viewing and ultimately has a nice message so it is worth checking out if you have missed it.
3/5