The Spanish language horror film called “The Orphanage” was one I put in my Netflix cue just because it was recommended by their automatic recommendations system after it’s tallied all the other genres and types of movies I tend to go for.  Apparently this recommendation feature is pretty good, because most movies it’s recommended so far are pretty high up on my “like” list.

The Orphanage has a very talented cast, headed by a woman who plays a mother to a young boy named Simon, prounounced See-Mone in Spanish, in case you’re wondering and want to prepare for the movie a bit.  We find throughout the movie that the woman has puchased a former orphanage on the beach with her husband, the orphanage that she actually came from as a child before being “rescued” by adoptive parents.

The house is huge and creepy, which adds to the element of the creepy factor for the movie, which runs longer than the average film of this nature, but it flies by with no problems at all.  The fact that it is set on a beach where the sun hardly ever shines adds to the eerie factor.  We find out that her adopted son, Simone has a grave illness throughout the film, and the film goes through most of the story trying to figure out where her son has disappeared to after he claims that he talks to other children that no one can see but himself. 

The poor mother is put through the ringer, but we find her conviction in finding her son to be compelling, and she portrays a concerned mother and strong woman very well, even in the face of her husband leaving the house because he can’t face what’s become of them after they have lost Simone. 

The cool thing about the Orphanage is that it accomplishes the creepy, jumpy factor without relying on obvious scenes that make one squirm, but rather, good old fashioned timing.  Accept for a few scenes that will probably leave an impression on you, and I don’t necessarily mean in a happy, good way, this movie was a superior modern day horror film with a twist that was unexepected.  It is a sad ghost story essentially, but it’s so clever in it’s angles and quiet suspense that you can’t help but think about for days after you’ve seen it.