The Orphanage

As if more proof were needed that the best way to make a scary movie is through atmosphere, pacing and storytelling, rather than sudden violence, needless gore and random shocks, here comes "The Orphanage." Produced (in part) by Guillermo del Toro, it bears some of his visual style and restraint, as well as an interest in the terrors of childhood. Director J.A. Bayona, his first feature, immediately earns a spot alongside fellow Spanish-speaking author, del Toro and as an expert at using classic horror cliches to produce all-new chills.

"The Orphanage" takes place in the oh-so-familiar confines of a dilapidated mansion. The place was once a home for parentless children, where now-middle-aged Laura (Belen Rueda) spent her early years. She's now returned, husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted HIV+ son Simon (Roger Princep) in tow, having bought the place with the intention of turning it into a home for disabled youths. A worthy ambition, but one that, needless to say, bumps up against the building's troubled past.

Have we mentioned that the orphanage rests on a seaside scape compelte with lighthouse, near a cave that floods at high tide? Or that Simon develops an especially vivid imaginary friend shortly after his arrival? Or that Laura discovers a gaunt old woman creeping about in the tool shed one night? Or that theres a pyshcic? Well, those creepy developments are the tip of the terrifying iceberg compared with the appearance of a very disturbed kid wearing a ripped burlap sack over his head.

One huge difference between films in the del Toro universe "Pan's Labyrinth" and those in Hollywood's is the likelihood of a happy ending. Especially when kids are involved, American horror movies like to put the tykes in peril, but almost never do the grimmest of outcomes occur, so we're conditioned not to take juvenile danger seriously. Anyone who's seen del Toro's work, however, knows that youngsters are not immune to the bad things that stalk this and other worlds. Without this safety net, "The Orphanage" reaches truly terrifying heights as it becomes clear how possible the worst outcome can be. Like "Pan's Labyrinth," this is a movie about children made very much for adults.

By a wide margin, J.A. Bayona's "The Orphanage" delivers more goose bumps than anything Hollywood has served up in years – which I hope does not mean that Bayona, a first-time feature director will be enlisted to direct "Saw V." Produced by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"), it's about Laura (Belén Rueda), a mother who purchases an orphanage that she hopes to restore as a haven for disabled children. But she didn't reckon on the spirits of the children who are already occupying the place, are the same children who she grew up with in the orphanage. Bayona draws on everything from "Peter Pan" to Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw," but it has a creepiness that's all its own.

This film lures us in with extraordinary subtlety. Keeping sound effects and incidental music to a relative minimum, it builds its suspense almost subliminally. So when something scary or shocking does occur -- deprived of those Hollywood-style cues -- we are truly startled. And let me just say, I have honestly never been so completely creeped out in a movie theater. I literally had chills and goosbumps the entire film.By exploring the psychological terrain of a haunted woman (we are forever wondering if these apparitions are part of Laura's imagination), the movie brings a dimension of reality into this otherworldly situation. This brings us into far more believable, and hence disturbing, intimacy with the other side, that mystical realm that draws us to horror movies and which continues to perplex everyone. Possibly the best "scary movie" I've ever seen.

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