The Orphanage - signs of life in mood-based horror
 

I'm just back from watching The Orphanage.

I cannot urge you strongly enough to find the nearest place you can see this film with a sold-out crowd. It's beautifully told, beautifully shot and beautifully twisted. It takes every cliche you were ever sick of and shows off just how well the old cinema tricks can work.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4...atover2es2.jpg
Just how nifty is this poster? Look at it!

Damn, damn, damn good stuff. I can't wait to see it Saturday night at the local cinema, which has a large latino clientele - I want to see this with a packed house.

I saw the preview for this, and will probably see it once it's released on DVD (I don't see movies in theaters anymore. Too annoying and expensive). Thanks for the reminder!

I see on Fandango it expands to more theaters today. Will it get to more theaters afterwards? The closest big theater its playing in is in LA and dammit if I don't wanna drive there.

I saw it last week and really liked it. There were a few frustrating moments for me when I wanted to strangle the characters, but by the end of it, those moments made more sense and worked toward where the movie was heading (which was not where I thought it was heading...) Lots of 'Boo' jump style scares that I usually find lazy, but one of them here was REALLY effective and got my heart racing. Well worth seeking out.

In theatres everywhere my ass. :mad:

I saw it in LA a few weeks ago. Great flick, though it is a bit derivative of similar films like The Devil's Backbone and The Others. Still, it was genuinely creepy and well acted. I want the DVD now!

Oh, and I NEED a copy of that poster. Gorgeous!

I just noticed that it opens at the Hollywood 20 in Greenville, SC this weekend. I guess I know where I'll be going on Saturday after work!

I would like that poster....but I'm not sure I wan something that will scare the crap out of me on my walls all the time.

Was it when

The trailer gave me a nice feeling of freshness. Who knows...

Yeah... every other jump scare didn't get me, but that one sure did!

Just got back from seeing it......LOVED IT! A terrific and classy scary film. Like "The Others". And this one had several jump out of your seat moments.

Did anyone watch this movie at South Beach?

I saw it, and was very, very pleased! This is without a doubt my type of horror film these days. It's far more "The Others" than any of the usual mainstream trends of the genre. I'd say that this one is a mixture of both "The Others" as well as Pan's Labyrinth.

All of the positive things mentioned in this thread, they're all spot on. There's at least two scenes that got to me unlike any other horror film in many years, and they were so perfectly executed.

Go check it out guys, trust us. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

The trailer looked like the Devil's Backbone to me. Nonetheless, eagerly awaiting this one!

This is my opinion of the movie:

It had an awesome ending, but I had to sit through about 90 minutes of shit to get to that point.

The premise is great, the execution sucks. With a more talented director, an even more talented writer, and a shorter run time (there was a lot of padding in the film's 100-minute runtime); this film could've been wonderful and magnificent. Instead it's just a crappy film with a great ending.

Just to throw this out there as well, the whole "exorcist" segment of the film where Laura hires the group of folk to come to the house played like a retarded retread of the whole second act of Poltergeist mixed with the worst segments of White Noise (which really isn't saying much as White Noise may have been one of the worst films I've seen all decade).

Your "90 minutes of shit" is my 90 minutes of superbly paced tension building, leading to the wonderful climax.

I tend to disagree.

If the film had superbly paced tension, there wouldn't be that twenty minute segment that I made an example of in my post is smacked right in the middle where nothing of importance happens to be revealed (in terms of not only of plot, but in character development as well).

Yes, I will now be a hypocrite and say the final moments of that sequence reveals , but there are better ways to "reveal" that to the audience than the way the film does it. It's a very cliched segment as it's been done before and of course, been done better.

It's one of the biggest gripes I had with the film in terms of it's running time and use of padding out scenes longer than they needed to be. Looking back, it would've made a great short film under 60 minutes. When extended past that, there's nothing of real significance that actually works.

Also, I want to add that I personally hate any film that has to use flashbacks to explain earlier portions of the film in the climax. I tend to like my films that don't play dumb to the audience.

This is a definite winner - it was one of 27 movies included in this past fall's New York Film Festival where it had a very positive reception.

Saw this yesterday with my wife and we both loved it. I'm not sure how many of you have children, but I think that makes a difference in how the movie affects you.

Nevertheless, my acid-test for a great film is if it 1) provokes discussion after viewing it and 2) stays with me for a few days after viewing it.

So far, it's done both, but I just saw it yesterday. I definitely recommend it, and DAMN I WANT THAT POSTER!!!!

Didnt enjoy it at all. It just felt to "been there done that." Brought nothing new to the table, nothing special in the acting department, and the ending insulted my intelligence. I dont need to be beat over the head with what happend, there was no need for that last scene.

I don't know how you can enjoy an ending if you don't get atleast some enjoyment out of everything before. That's like saying you liked the punchline to a joke but not the joke itself. They're nothing with out each other.

^ It's possible IMO. With this flick, I was having a hard time because

Another example is kind of like Saw III - I hated that movie until the ending because I felt it was out of character for the series, turns out that was the point.

I know you see a smidgen of the scene in the trailer: but did anyone wince at the

While the film felt reminiscent of some other films, I ended up really liking it a lot. One sequence near the end of the film is one of the most suspenseful, hold-your-breath scenes I've seen in ages. It also wraps up beautifully and poignantly.

The mood, theme and outcome of the film reminded me a lot of the novel .