el orfanato

i missed this time after time when it was screening in minneapolis theaters - i feel like after its limited run at the lagoon it showed up somewhere like, beats me, hopkins or whatever - so i was very excited finally to get a look at it now that it's been released on dvd.
i watched the orphanage this afternoon, when it was bright and sunny and there was a real nice breeze coming through the window, which i realize isn't exactly the witching hour, but the hype that surrounded this movie at its release is confusing in retrospect. basically, it's not much of a horror movie. first off, there's the clever and adorable little mascot on the poster, above, who is a pivotal character to be sure, but doesn't deserve to market a movie in much the same way that, like, jigsaw's stupid puppet face was used to sell those terrible saw movies. secondly, the trailer was goddamned terrifying, but as with so many horror trailers they mostly just mashed all the orchestra stabs and whiz-bang spook moments they could into 90 seconds. and third, everyone i know who did see this movie on the big screen told me that it was the most frightening thing they'd ever seen.
so, that being said, this movie completely failed to live up to the hype that had been impressed on me. however, as happens so many times when one sees a well known movie, or reads a well known book, without knowing much of anything concerning the particulars of its plot, i was totally blown away by the orphanage, just not at all in the way that i thought i'd be. i can't honestly say that i was scared by this movie at any point, although it is plenty eerie.
even though it's the (mind-bogglingly wunderkind phenomenal) directorial debut of juan antonio bayona, executive producer guillermo del toro's mark has been left all over it in the beautiful production design: lots of dark corners; vignette-framed scenes; use of hi8 and night vision cameras; and props, costumes, and makeup rather than cgi all make for a visually stunning movie. bayona's camerawork is real impressive, though, and he has a talent for holding the suspense by only showing glances of anything visually shocking.
further, bayona's knack for directing his cast is very apparent. the reason the film truly succeeds is a result of how deeply affecting it is. the female lead, laura (belen rueda), is wonderful, and had me so closely involved that basically, without giving a whole lot away, i think this might be the only horror movie that's made me tear up. and it's unabashedly sentimental, which is where i feel it sort of detaches itself from the horror genre. where a film like the ring, for instance, features an emotionally touching performance from naomi watts, and alludes to the possibility of a happy resolution, in reality it's just pulling its punches so that it can hit you for real at the end. that's manipulative, and that's fucking good psychological horror. the orphanage wants its audience to be afraid, but to realize in the end that there's happiness in tragedy.
all in all, if this is going to be classified as a horror movie, then it's the best one i've seen in a while, and a better, clearer effort on del toro's part than 2006's pan's labyrinth. it is beautiful, and a great example of a universally enjoyable scary movie.