1. RegOz

   10

   This movie was brilliant! I can't think in anything wrong about it. Perhaps there are some small details that needed to be clarified -if they were not left like that deliberately-, but, in movies, as it is in life, there is always room for improvement. The performances were great, and the characters were perfectly elaborates, so the audience empathize with them. I actually felt pretty close to Laura and Simon, and also to the 'ghost' children and their story. Moreover, this movie manages to continuously surprise us. There is always suspense, which makes it thrilling. In fact, at time, I had goosebumps; that, even though I am not a person who gets easily scared. Further, I love the emotional component of the film, because it was not a movie that dealt merely with death, life, and the super natural world, but it was a movie that confronted us about how each of us deals with his/her humanity. The Orphanage questions our coping mechanisms to face, pain, loss, reality, the 'unknown', and more. I think that those people who see is a 'dumb' 'silly' 'pointless' or 'boring' movie are probably more into gore or have a very narrow perspective about what is horror. I have read some of the reasons why some put this movie just a '1 or 2', and frankly, in most of the cases, their criticism shows an absolutely basic analytical thought. So, if you like intellectual stimulation, this is the movie for you! It is magnificently done. Moreover, the photography is breathtaking, so is the landscape. I loved the ending I found it very powerful...and open to your imagination. I did have tears, and I am not an overly emotional person so that means something to me. I think I can easily watch this movie twice the same day, not just because of its beauty, but also to play myself a bit with the clues...I may be able to discover more about it.!..An end note: I did like this movie more than Pan's Laberynth. I find The Orphanage is much better. Pan's Labyrinth was beautiful -what I enjoyed the most was the art direction- but the whole story didn't really impressed me much. The Orphanage is Del Toro's masterpiece!… Expand

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2. axelkoch

   8

   Much more than the usual jump-scare horror movies! 'The Orphanage' is very burdensome in a way I've never seen before with a horror/thriller movie. Its story and the closure of it are fantastic, the screenplay is one of the utterly best in this genre. The acting really got me, the way the little kid plays is fantastic! It's not that mysterious, weird manner like in movies as 'The Omen' - it's just a normal kid with ominous things happening around him. The medium doesn't feel unrealistic like in ANY other horror film and Belén Rueda, the main actress, doesn't ever get hysterious. This movie truly is a renovation in the mystery genre. Albeit the viewer doesn't catch sight of the really scary scenes in this movie, the whole aura of the film is creepy and your heart beats twice as fast usual while watching it. I wasn't completely pleased with the medium scene or the resolution, but nevertheless 'The Orphanage' is one of the best scary movies I've ever seen and by the way also great in other aspcets like acting, screenplay, cinematography or the disquieting score. Go and watch this movie!… Expand

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3. JayH.

   7

   Visually very impressive, like all Guillermo Del Toro films, he is also gifted and drawing the viewer into a film. Suspenseful, fascinating and a well crafted film. Good cinematography and art direction.… Expand

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4. JasonP.

   2

   What?! I can't believe I had to sit through 90 minutes of the most boring and pointless sequence of events just to get an "OK" ending. ***SPOILER*** A movie where a mother kills her self over an orphan child and doesn't care one bit about leaving her husband alone and miserable... is just dumb! Oh, and explain to me why Tomas is an evil ghost who smashes the mothers fingers with the door, just to come out all loving and good at the end. What about that old woman who killed the orphans... she shows up out of nowhere in the tool shed (or what ever that room in the front yard is called) to do what? To check if the dead orphans she buried are still dead? And that woman showing up out of nowhere again in front of their car months later just to get hit by a bus... Stupid! I don't understand how anyone can like this film... ***End Spoiler*** I'm soo sick of foreign films getting good reviews from critics, just because it's in another language. If this was made in the U.S. in English, everyone would be trashing this film.… Expand

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