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A review of THE ORPHANAGE comes out of London's FRIGHTFEST!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. This one looks great! I can't wait to see it... I think (hope) it plays Fantastic Fest... Produced by Guillermo Del Toro and all the reviews have been phenomenal, including the one below! Enjoy!!!
Hey Harry,
I just saw the Orphanage and just wanted to let you guys know just how amazing it is!
I saw The Orphanage last night at London's Fright Fest. To be honest I'd be surprised if you haven't already had reviews from other Fright Fest goers and I'm not the best with words but this film was too good to not say something about it.
The film focuses on Laura, her husband and their young son Simon. They move into the former orphanage that Laura lived in as a child, intending to turn it once again into a home for special children. Simon, as many young children, has some imaginary friends but after moving into the orphanage he makes some new imaginary friends that begin to frighten Laura. When Simon goes missing, their presence becomes stronger so Laura must battle to find her son and cope with ghostly disturbances in the house while trying to convince everyone else she isn't crazy.
I won't say much as I don't want to give anything away, but the film is incredibly creepy. There was a couple of moments when the whole cinema jumped (followed by nervous giggles). There is no gore but there is one gruesome moment that is just totally brilliant. The only film of recent years I would class as 'scary' would be A Tale of Two Sisters which sure had some creepy moments. The Orphanage is certainly the scariest film I've seen in some time. To be honest I was sitting completely tensed up for the whole film. The film is not only horror/thriller but encompasses many human emotions and is incredibly touching in places.
Beautifully shot with an interesting and original story (ok so nothing is original but you know what I mean) this film is going to do amazingly well. The Orphanage is probably going to be compared to Pan's Labyrinth in every review not only because it is of a similar genre and also Spanish language, but Guillermo del Toro helped with the funding and co-produced the film. I have to honestly say this is much better than Pan's Labyrinth by far! It was actually written 10 years ago by Sergio Sanchez and it has taken this long to get the film made. Helped by director Juan Antonio Bayona and his friendship with Guillermo de Toro, the film finally got made.
Both Sergio Sanchez and Juan Antonio Bayona attended the viewing at Fright fest and did a short Q&A after the film which gave a little more insight into its history and the references to other literature and film that are in the The Orphanage. The film had only previously screened at Cannes and they were genuinely pleased to be present at a 'proper' screening with, as they said, the people it was made for. It is released in cinemas in the UK in December 2007 and I will definitley be going to watch it again then.
Bye for now,
Alex Pallix.
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And the reviewer sounds very plant-ish
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I can't wait to see it.
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Because it only ends in tears, dismemberment, and utter terror.Movie sounds good - will look for it this side of the pond.
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I love those atmospheric, spooky films without all the gore. not that i don't like the slasher films either, but there's just something classy about these kind of films. My sister was watching the other on dvd yesterday and I was thinking it has been a while since we had a good scary movie in that vein.
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I'm still looking forward to HATCHET more though. Todays poll on IMDb is what film in September are looking forward to most? HATCET only has 1%. Well, the IMDber's rate KNOCKED UP 8.1 and WAR OF THE WORLDS 6.6!!!
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For fuck sake talk backs kill me...
Positive review = Plant
Negative review = Hater
If this site was to be believed every fucking person who has ever uttered a positive word works for a Studio in which case I hope there's some people left in the world who don't work for a film studio or there'll be no one producing food for the planets population...
Personally I thought it was a fair review and a few friends who also went to see this film at Frightfest were equally positive... -
Never heard of this film before.
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I was at that screening too and it was great. There were a couple of BIG jumps that had the whole audience out of their seats and nervously laughing after. By the by, Adam 'Hatchet' Green's new film Spiral was on that day too and it was excellent. As was Daywatch.
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The Doctor can assure you this reviewer most definitely isn't a plant. One was going to write a review, but I feel that having the last surviving crew member of the Event Horizon commit words about a horror film would seem a little... contrived.
However I feel must speak out. The Orphanage is one of the finest ghost movies ever committed to celluloid. I am a fan of A Tale Of Two Sisters as well, and although not as twistedly nightmarish, The Orphanage is very much on a par if not a better movie.
Certainly it knocks The Devils Backbone into a cocked hat and makes The Others look incredibly amateur by comparasion, having a far more genuinely chilling atmosphere and more genuine frights (the whole cinema gasped plenty of times) than any movie I've seen since Ringu or even Jun-On 2; The Grudge.
At last western audiences have a movie that challenges even the great Asian horrors. This will hopefully be in the running for an Oscar for best foreign film as it's beautifully made, wonderfully acted and never cheats the viewer. The gruesome moment mentioned will definitely cause many stomachs to flip.
It's a classic and one you will return to again and again.
Daywatch, meanwhile, is an excellent sequel to the original. Far more gung-ho, completely ridiculous, often confusingly edited but always with the same charmingly ragged edge, it's a dreamscape of epic proportions. Many of the effects sequences will leave you breathless and the plot is easily as confusingly bizarre as the first. Won't make any new fans, but those looking for more of the same will be hooked.
Anyway, see both. But pay particular attention to The Orphanage. It's incredible. -
geesus, that is quite a call, considering said movie was frakn awesome.
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The Orphanage is the stronger film, much as one loves Guillermo's movie. On an aside, one of the orphans in this has a familiar name...
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I saw this at Frightfest too. Sorry to those who think the reviewer is a plant, but abolutely everyone there was completely stunned by this movie. It never puts a foot wrong. No fake scares, some honest-to-goodness jump scares, incredibly creepy and deeply moving. The guys behind it - Del Toro's involvment was minimal, he's not the kind of guy to take over someone else's movie - really know and love ghost movies so you get all the scenes you'd want but no direct steals. You know, it's clear they've seen The Haunting, The Innocents, The Changeling, Poltergeist, etc but they put their own stamp over seances, psychic investigators, etc. The sound design is amazing and for me, as someone who sees just about every horror film that comes down the pike, I was amazed by how often I got genuine shivers and goosebumps. I mean, I honestly thought I was above that kind of reaction.Made a terrified child out of me. Calling it this years' Pan's Labyrinth may sound a bit of a boast but it's completely accurate. This is Peter Pan to Pan's Labyrinth's Alice In Wonderland. Honestly, it really is that good. So there.
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Work for the production? Jesus Christ and the bloody gash of Satan, I live on a spaceship floating in the nether regions of hell. Then again that could mean I work for Fox, but I assure you I don't. The Orphanage really is one of the best chillers ever made. As for Daywatch, it is confusing in some places, but mainly due to some bad editing. I know I said the plot is "confusingly bizarre" but really, it's all based on some really odd ideas that could seem very silly in another movie. That's all. It's still good stuff. Just not The Orphanage.
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...what´s the deal with all this Pan´s love? C´mon, excelent makeup doesn´t mean excelent filmaking. Del Toro is sooooo overhyped... It makes me sick.
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Wasn't scary, as far as I was concerned. Well made, but forced and predictable. But I'll check this out. Del Toro working in Spanish is a completely different (i.e., good) filmmaker from Del Toro working in English.
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Why, you could write an essay it's so labyrinthine! Surely you jest.
And as far as I know, Senor Del Toro had nothing to do with this other than producing. Doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it immediately. In fact if you don't, I'll put you in my book of future live cremation victims and be with you shortly. -
Ha ha ha thump.
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If Gans is too busy then someone get this guy! Pan's Labyrinth was fucking awesome! I'm laying money down for the Orphanage when it comes this way!
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This is a serious question. I found the film to be good, but not the masterpiece so many claim it to be. It has been hailed as a beautiful adult fantasy, but I didn't find anything "adult" about it except for the gore. There were recycled bits of many children's stories and themes or lessons that have been used over and over again. I don't mean to hate on the film. For those who love it, what (other than visuals) makes Pan's Labyrinth such a great film?
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