Looking for a film designed to scare you to within an inch of your life? Our new film critic Ross Hallard has edited music videos for the likes of Depeche Mode and Ian Brown, he’s also had to do something for the Kaiser Chiefs but don’t hold that against him, it just means that he knows a thing or two about being scared…..
“This Spanish language thriller/horror/drama/mystery is the scariest film I’ve seen since The Descent (2005), but I’d align it more closely with another horror, also by a Spanish director, Alejandro Amenábar, The Others (2001) and like both these films El Orfanato achieves its shocks without the need for CGI trickery.
A woman buys the house she grew up in, the orphanage of the title, and moves in with her family – her husband and child – with the idea of once again opening it’s doors and caring for parentless children. Very quickly her son claims he has an invisible new friend and on the opening day of the orphanage her son, who we soon discover is himself adopted, vanishes.
There are several genuinely terrifying moments in this film and even writing this review now my hairs are standing on end as I re-imagine them. British audiences may also be particularly shocked at one scene where the main protagonist unearths the remains of several children within the grounds of the orphanage and one can’t help but draw comparisons to the horrific criminal investigation currently taking place on our own channel island of Jersey.
The performances, cinematography, dialogue or sound design are fantastic and suffice to say that if you’re a fan of horror and enjoyed the previously mentioned films then you must see this. I would also like to take this opportunity to describe the optimum viewing conditions for viewing this film – on DVD, on your own, in a cold, dark, rickety old house.”
El Orfanato/The Orphanage is showing at cinemas nationwide now.
Ross Hallard is a Freelance Film Editor living in London. He has 8 yrs experience in media and edits music videos, commercials, short films, documentaries and animations his clients include the BBC, CNN, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand and Ian Brown amongst others. He is yet to achieve his dream of editing a feature film but in the meantime he has decided to take this opportunity to openly criticize everyone else who has through reviews on our website.
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