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A very strong recommendation for Juan Antonio Bayona’s El Orfanato that bears the unmistakable stamp of producer Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Chronos). It takes the best elements of The Sixth Sense (without all the hey, look-at-me self consciousness), The Others, and Don’t Look Now and proves once again that, in great horror films, the less that is seen the more there is to dread.
It also doesn’t hurt to have a script that ties itself up quite nicely and tears your heart out (figuratively) at the end.
By the way, the ticket taker was advising patrons that the movie is in Spanish with subtitles and she told me that some people, when advised of the fact, chose to see something else. That is why there is crap like National Treasure on 3000 screens.
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Living in Asia for the past six-plus years where subtitles are on everything, I find it odd when there aren’t any subtitles.
Just tell people that the director (del Toro) did Blade II and Hellboy. That’ll bring ‘em in.
I have a son who is deaf and a Brazilian daughter-in-law. Like JDsg, the picture looks weird without captions. The world has a boatload of wonderful film makers, some of whom live in the US. Lots live elsewhere. Thanks for the heads up on El Orfanato!
El Orfanato parece una pelicula muy buena. Gracias.
JS: Yup. (Can’t speak for the Blade franchise, but Hellboy wasn’t bad at all for a fantasy action flick.)
del Toro didn’t direct El Orfanato, he produced it. It’s said to be similar in tone to his work, though.
And I’m wondering if the ticket takers didn’t start warning folks until someone complained. I’m sure if they weren’t giving that warning originally, someone bought a ticket, sat down to the movie, and waited a few minutes for the movie to revert to English before going out and giving the staff holy hell.
Looks very intriguing. I finally saw Pan’s Labyrinth the other night, and it was as wonderful as I expected…and far more heartbreaking.
I can almost get the no-subtitles folks (”hey, I go to the movies to be entertained–not to do something hard like reading“). What I really don’t get is some of these young’uns who won’t watch movies in black & white.
Since 9/11 everyone speaks Spanish. Why bother with the subtitles?
Between that comment and the title of this post, I’m reminded of Robert Wise’s film The Haunting, adapted from (and not to be confused with the atrocious later version of) Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Gorgeous black & white Cinemascope photography complements a great story well told. Highly recommended.
Looking forward to seeing this. Didn’t see Pan’s Labyrinth for its redemptive violence thread, but probably will see it sometime.
I’m bi (lingual that is) so the Spanish don’t bother me none.
Nada.
Dammit, my comment got eaten. Once more, with feeling:
That’s one of my favorite horror movies–a favorite in any genre, actually. Robert Wise worked for Val Lewton, and it shows. (And by the way, is anyone else looking forward to that TCM documentary on Lewton this month?)
I think of the more recent version as more of a re-make of the original movie than an adaptation of the story. Lili Taylor seems to be playing Julie Harris, Zeta-Jones is playing Claire Bloom, and Owen Wilson is playing Russ Tamblyn. In any case, it’s a terrible movie; I do highly recommend the original.
I confess, the first time I saw The Haunting, I’d had a couple of hits of some typical 70’s quality pot. I attributed some of the effects and stunning camera work to the drug. Saw it later, unstoned. A nearly perfect film. I don’t think any directors exploited the character of light in the medium of black and white nearly as effectively as Wise until Institute Benjamenta by the Quay brothers.