Hatrack River Forum: The Orphanage

This is topic The Orphanage in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

So, this has finally hit the local theater.

I -want- to see it. Yet I'm terrified that it'll really and truly scare me too much. [Blushing]

Anyone else willing to check it out? Tell me if it'll leave scars? [Big Grin]

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

I'll think about it if I get some money.
I really don't like scary movies a whole lot. they remind me of spicy food.

Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :

The New Yorker loved it. I really want to see it.

Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :

My boyfriend and I both want to see it, but are a little hesitant because it's the same director as Pan's Labyrinth (don't get me wrong - I thought it was, aesthetically, a wonderful movie, but the plot left me and my boyfriend very disappointed). We'll probably end up seeing it anyway, but probably not 'til it comes out on DVD.

Posted by porcelain girl (Member # 1080) on :

It was not directed by Guillermo del Toro. He is one of the producers. It was directed by Juan Antonio Bayona.

A more straightforward movie by del Toro involving the paranormal, however; would be The Devil's Backbone. It is an excellent movie.

Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :

My mistake. That's a little more comforting, I suppose. I guess my point was that I thought the movie was visually pleasing, but very much lacking in the story, which could be more the writers' fault than the director's.

Posted by Ginol_Enam (Member # 7070) on :

I was supposed to screen it (and this be paid for seeing it), but I was training a new guy and we had a lot to do, so we didn't get out until 6:30 (that's am) and I was way too tired to stay asleep through anything... [Frown]

I'll see it sometime later.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Just came back from the late showing of it.

It's very good. It's also very, very scary.

There's almost no gore...except for one brief but *ahem* vivid scene.

Most of the frights come not from cheap "something just jumped out!" bits and overly dramatic music stings, but from a genuinely intense, unsettling slow build of mystery, secrets, and dread.

The genuinely heart-warming portrayal of a loving family gets bonus points.

Oh yes...and there -is- a twist ending. But it's neither cheap nor what one would expect.

Excellent movie, though I'll have problems with kids wearing burlap sack mask for a long, long time.

Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Puffy Treat:
Oh yes...and there -is- a twist ending. But it's neither cheap nor what one would expect.

Doesn't letting people know that there *is* a twist kind of spoil the twist? [Wink]

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Not this twist. [Big Grin]

And in other news, New Line's snatched up the remake rights.

Bleah. I can see far too many ways for them to botch this.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

It's out on DVD today! Really, really worth owning, or at least renting. [Cool]

Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :

This was a creepy and ultimately depressing movie. I'm glad I saw it, but that ending was horrifying.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

A horrifying horror movie...and yet, Hollywood has trained modern audiences to equate "horror film" with "cheese", "unintentional comedy", and "not REALLY scary". [Smile]

Given what the story contained, a happy ending was not truly possible.

Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Puffy Treat:
A horrifying horror movie...and yet, Hollywood has trained modern audiences to equate "horror film" with "cheese", "unintentional comedy", and "not REALLY scary".

Given what the story contained, a happy ending was not truly possible.

The ending was horrifying in a different way, like causing mild depression sort of way. But up to that point I thought the movie was great (I guess it's just a personal thing...I just can't handle what actually happens in this movie, for the same reason I couldn't enjoy King's "Pet Sematary.")

Posted by EmpSquared (Member # 10890) on :

So...

*SPOILERS*

Who thought that nothing supernatural happened? Who thought something still did?

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

quote:
Originally posted by the_Somalian:
(I guess it's just a personal thing...I just can't handle what actually happens in this movie, for the same reason I couldn't enjoy King's "Pet Sematary.")

You feel the movie portrayed the dead characters as being warped into malicious evil, as they were in King's story? I didn't quite get that vibe, though the ending was very sad. More that something so bad had happened to them that they weren't at peace until the end.

If the dead characters were really there, of course. I'm still not certain if they were. [Smile]

Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :

**SPOILER FOR THE WHOLE MOVIE**

No Puffy, I can't stand it when gruesome stuff happens to good people in movies/novels. In Pet Sematary, their children die. Especially that scene when the little toddler gets run over and dragged by the truck. In this movie, the mother inadvertently kills her own child, and the thought of him being alone there and starving to death is just unbearable to me to such an extent that it takes me out of the movie. I am perfectly willing to acknowledge this as a quirk of mine I guess--I did like the movie on the whole and was prompted by this thread to rent it. So thanks. [Smile]