Orfanato, El (The Ophanage)

Let's get this out of the way right now, this is not a Guillermo del Toro film, he is merely one of the producers and even though he may have offered a hand here and there I suspect his name was slapped on the project for the sake of marketing. No harm there and it's a good thing too as this Spanish film from director J. A. Bayona is well worth seeing and may have been greatly overlooked otherwise. When you get right down to it THE ORPHANAGE is a simple ghost story but because it's subtitled and shot in a style foreign to our's in North America it packs a greater punch and is just plain spooky all around. Sadly the Hollywood studios are already thinking of doing a remake which would be a shame as all of the magic that makes THE ORPHANGE work will no doubt be lost in a sea a cheap CGI effects and bad acting. Speaking of acting, Belèn Rueda, who we recently saw with Julianne Moore in SAVAGE GRACE is outstanding here. No need to run out to the cinema to catch this one but keep your eyes open for it on DVD or your movie provider and do try to watch it alone late at night as I suspect this one will keep you up afterwards.....which is why we watch these scary films anyway isn't it?