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El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Capwn

By Capwn
in Film, TV & Radio

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Pob

Pob

Posted
Posted

Come on, he first discovered this random new imaginary mate who he decided to name after the clothes he found in the secret house, and it just so happened to turn out that when he started "seeing" him it was at the place of his death?!

Yes - I assume by this point that Simon has found Tomas' den, which is where he gets the name from, so all those drawings and stuff might point to the caves as a place where Tomas and all the other kids used to play. The 'new friends' he finds are invented in his mind from Tomas drawings.

I think the fact that what the old women was seeing tied in with the story as it unfolded and the fact they didnt want any money "yet", gives them some credibility. Again I will need to see it again to see if they might of known stuyff about the children being killed their before they got the exorcist in.

Yeah, but you could just see the whole seance scene like a real-life seance i.e. based on tricks and delusion. The seance could easily have researched the history to the house before she came over, and found that a bunch of kids went missing in the past. She says they were poisoned, but that could just be a cooked up story.

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Teeohbee.

Teeohbee.

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It's one of, if not THE, best horror films I've ever seen.

I was worried upon entering the cinema as I'd hyped myself up about it quite a bit. The connection to Del Toro, the positive impressions in here etc, all made me wary of disappointment. I needn't have worried.

Bloody fantastic. I've never felt that kind of atmosphere and tension in a cinema before. You just felt completely... immersed.

Amaze

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frumious

frumious

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Posted

Just got back from this, absolutely brill.

I was leaning towards it all being deffo supernatural, but now I'm not quite so sure. The missing jaw lady moment was astounding, I don't think I've ever actually cried out in fear in the cinema before! :P

I found the subtitles actually gave you something to focus on to distract you from the horror! :)

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verytallgirl

verytallgirl

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Posted

I'm so pleased others are admitting to being freaked out even after the film. We went to see it after being told 'it's not THAT scary' and knowing that it was going to be really, really good. Well, we bricked it, everyone else in the cinema bricked it - there were screams from all of us at key moments (an excellent bonding experience) - the whole way through. Even the opening credits were unsettling!

It's actually given me nightmares, and that hasn't happened since I was twelve and stayed up to watch 'IT' after my mother wisely told me that she would permit it as I would learn an important lesson in doing so (which I learned - it was a long time until I wanted to watch a scary film again). Proper nightmares, where I'm stuck in the film and can't get out. I'm even a little freaked out typing this.

Bloody good film though, and I'm definitely buying it so I can watch it again with knowing eyes - in broad daylight with lots of friends present, of course.

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Pob

Pob

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I do sometimes get reminded of The Orphanage just before I go to sleep (such as seeing a new post in this thread), and think "shit".

I was also talking to my friend just before we went to bed the other day, and I mentioned it in passing, and she said "why did you have to go and mention that?"

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polygon_monkey

polygon_monkey

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To be fair to the little guy he had a bag on his head.

My take is that it was Simon in Thomas’ gear.

I thought that when he is found in the basement his mum removes the mask from Simon's head, hence showing that he was wearing Thomas' stuff and was the one who pushed his mum in the bathroom.

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Pob

Pob

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I thought that when he is found in the basement his mum removes the mask from Simon's head, hence showing that he was wearing Thomas' stuff and was the one who pushed his mum in the bathroom.

I don't think there's any doubt that the boy who pushes mum into the bath is Simon.

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Ashur

Ashur

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I can't really understand why this is getting so much praise. I thought it was average at best.

It wasn't scary at all, the only really tense bit was the seance, and I don't think the story holds up to scrutiny at all. The whole section with everyone wearing Wicker Man masks was completely unbelievable and artificial. There were quite a few bits lifted straight out of other films, like the old lady getting hit by a bus, and as someone mentioned it is very similar to The Others. For a moment I thought it would redeem itself with a downbeat ending, but the uplifting scenes in the 'afterlife' felt like a copout.

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Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens

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I saw this and really enjoyed it, but I have to say I'm really surprised at the extent to which people are saying it really scared them. I thought it was all pretty well done and had some decent tense scenes but none of it got to me that much. I enjoyed it mainly because the turns of the plot kept me off balance and I liked that it all came together and made sense, and was genuinely sad. But if anything I'd say the main weakness was that it was never really scary enough.

Perhaps it was partly because I saw it in a cinema with only a few other people, but I don't recall anyone screaming or anything in my screening. I guess that can make a big difference - when I saw The Descent in a packed cinema late at night it was brilliant (mind you, its still pretty awesome on DVD).

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Shoes

Shoes

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Posted
We're off to see this on Friday night instead of Son of Rambow.

Sounds like a good call judging from the comments here.

The Orphanage is a better film, but Son of Rambow is fantastic, too.

All the people who said it didn't scare them are weird. It didn't have the same effect on me as, say, Don't Look Now, where I was terrified after the film ended, but it's peek-through-fingers intense and has a few jumpy moments and disturbing imagery.

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El Pibe

El Pibe

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Saw this last night thought it was very good. Had my mind racing when I got into bed.

Not sure how there can't be something supernatural going on because

of the door handle down to Tomas' basement dwelling. How else could it have gotten where it was?

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Vin

Vin

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Posted

Crikey, that was intense.

The lass spent the majority of the time with her face in her knees. Hell, even I had a few moments.

Benigna's face hanging off.

It wouldn't have been half the movie without the epic score, though.

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Distinct muttering

Distinct muttering

Posted
Posted
Saw this last night thought it was very good. Had my mind racing when I got into bed.

Not sure how there can't be something supernatural going on because

of the door handle down to Tomas' basement dwelling. How else could it have gotten where it was?

I agree. In this film the most obvious answer is that something supernatural was going on. It seems a stretch to go for the "she is going mad" route.

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Pob

Pob

Posted
Posted
Saw this last night thought it was very good. Had my mind racing when I got into bed.

Not sure how there can't be something supernatural going on because

of the door handle down to Tomas' basement dwelling. How else could it have gotten where it was?

Simon put it there - he left a whole trail of clues for his mother to follow, starting with the dolls hidden in the bench. The idea was that she'd find Tomas' little house. She doesn't figure out where the door knob goes until right at the end of the film, though.

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El Pibe

El Pibe

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Posted

Simon put it there - he left a whole trail of clues for his mother to follow, starting with the dolls hidden in the bench. The idea was that she'd find Tomas' little house. She doesn't figure out where the door knob goes until right at the end of the film, though.

I guess so, but then...

How did Simon get into Tomas' house without the door handle? I suppose he could have used another handle.

Also, how did Simon make the window smash to alert his Mum to the dolls?

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