Film Preview: The Orphanage (2007)

Trailers (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Posters (Due to age, may no longer be available)

Poster Rating: A

Review: An evocative poster. It’s simple, elegant and engaging. You get a flavor of the film, a sense of the period setting and a touch of the creeps, which makes this one of the year’s best.

Trailer Rating: C; B

Review: A horror film from the maker of Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro has the visual style, but this preview doesn’t seem to offer up anything extremely interesting. From Del Toro, I would expect something that looked different from all the others.

Del Toro is becoming the Quentin Tarantino of Spanish-language films. He doesn’t direct this stylish horror film, but it certainly bears some of his visual elements. In spite of myself, I’m actually interested in seeing this film. It gives us a glimpse into a dark world that is only exploited by American directors. It does bare some of the hallmarks of the genre, but feels fresh and original.

Oscar Prospects:

Lightning won’t strike twice for Del Toro as horror isn’t an Academy fave. The last one to hold any promise was The Silence of the Lambs and even that had very minimal horrific elements.

Release Date:

December 28, 2007

Synopsis:

A taut, disturbing picture that stands out among the many films of its genre. Twists keep coming, but none are as unexpected or devastating as the finale.