The Orphanage
Director: J. A. Bayona Run Time: 105 min. Format: DCP Rating: R Release Year: 1970 Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Starring: Andrés Gertrúdix, Belén Rueda, Edgar Vivar, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla, Roger Príncep
2007 gave us some solid horror films and this Spanish inclusion, The Orphanage, presented by Guillermo del Toro, is often overlooked but it’s surely one of the scariest movies you’ve never seen.
Laura (Belén Rueda) has happy memories of her childhood in an orphanage. She convinces her husband to buy the place and help her convert it into a home for sick children. One day, her own adopted son, Simón (Roger Príncep), disappears. Simon is critically ill, and when he is still missing several months later, he is presumed dead. Grief-stricken Laura believes she hears spirits, who may or may not be trying to help her find the boy.