Blu-ray disc of the week: The Orphanage review

Del Toro presents this classic horror film, but can it emerge from the spectre of Pan's Labyrinth?

After enchanting the world with Pan's Labyrinth, director Guillermo Del Toro became the all-conquering poster boy for world cinema. So lending his name to El Orfanato, was quite the nod of approval for debut director J.A Bayona.

However, in the cynical world of post-Hostel movie endorsements, where Mr Tarantino sacrificed both name and reputation, you could be forgiven for not expecting another masterpiece.

While never approaching the stratospheric heights of its sponsor, The Orphanage is very worthy. This genuinely unsettling horror sees young mother Laura, reopen her childhood orphanage, bringing along her husband and their HIV-positive adopted son, Simon.

Soon the chirpy youngster finds an imaginary (is he really?) friend; Laura's old playmate, Tomás, saddled with a terrifying sack mask to cover his facial deformity. Tomás lets slip a few too many family secrets and Simon disappears as a result. In her desperate search, Laura (played with incredible intensity by Belen Rueda) discovers the horrifying fate of the former residents and must learn to play games all over again in order to find her son.

The Pan's parallels are there. Indeed, Del Toro (credited as a producer) leaves his fingerprints all over The Orphanage, lending his expertise to many of similar themes. The lonely, small child with the big imagination, the frustration of adult scepticism, and a carefully weaved, magical and rewarding story that'll have you second-guessing long after the crushing finale.

For fans of the genre, there's a slice of The Others, The Sixth Sense and Del Toro's own The Devils Backbone thrown in with subtle nods to Hitchcock. It's by no means perfect, it feels almost too familiar, sometimes cliché and occasionally sluggish, but these are minor gripes.

The Orphanage spends 105 minutes reminding travesties, like Hostel, that true scares come from what you don't see, and in turn what you thought you saw. A creaky floorboard, a shadow rushing across the frame or a slamming door before any big reveal. This is how you craft a horror story. It's fitting that Laura, discovers believing is seeing, not the opposite.

The Ophanage is presented in Spanish with English subtitles.

A Blu-ray buy?

Yes. Hi-Definition isn't all about staggering action set pieces, the extra res also lends itself to the dreary, dust-clad confines of the old orphanage, the trueness of the shadows and the relative shades of darkness.

Extras

A must-see UK exclusive Q&A with Bayona in London, Del Toro also lends his voice elsewhere. Accompanied by the usual array of deleted scenes and making-of featurettes

User Comments

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The Orphanage spends 105 minutes reminding travesties, like Hostel, that true scares come from what you don't see, and in turn what you thought you saw.