El Orfanato (The Orphanage) was introduced to me as "Presented by: Guillermo del Toro," which basically means that Pan's Labyrinth was popular enough for execs to start spinning off other films from the same country/language. Reminiscent of Terrantino's 'presentation' of Sin City, there is not necessarily a directorial style in similar between the two movies. It boils down to saying that if you were open-minded enough of a movie-goer to enjoy a foreign and/or Spanish film and willing to read subtitles, then you might get along alright with the another one. Of course, the name of an Academy Award nominated director on your film also helps to draw attention.
But relations aside, The Orphanage is quite a satisfying film in it's own right. In fact, The Orphanage surpasses Pan's Labyrinth in many ways. Whereas Pan's Labyrinth felt cluttered at times with back-story and characters with little moral ambiguity, The Orphanage is unassuming, well-rounded, and perfectly paced. That is not to put down Pan's Labyrinth, which benefits from a more meaningful message. Going into this film with little knowledge about the plot certainly helps the viewing of any movie, it is even moreso important in a mystery infused suspense. The plot unfolds at a moderate pace to give some beatiful shots of a back-woods, almost gothic-feeling building and the seemingly simple lives of the family who, not surprisingly has an adopted son. Cue The Ring scary-looking children? Kind of... but not in a bad copy-cat sense.
The characters aren't especially uniquely, but rather they act as expected; slightly cliche and stereotypical. Acting can be mediocre, but I couldn't say it was at all bad. The main character, the mother, is an interesting character in the realization of her traits through flashbacks, but it was a little frustrating watching her try to unfold the mystery of events as they were unfolding. She was unrealistic in that she was slow to understand what was going on, but then a little too accepting on the ending. Speaking of the ending.. don't judge it until it is totally complete. There are a lot of clues that you never would have realized were given to you earlier in the film. Another reason not to read reviews or plot spoilers on this one.
Although The Orphanage does exploit a few parental fears, it's excellent suspense puts all flaws aside. I probably jumped more times that I can remember during a movie, as the spooks are very sudden at times and not expected at all. I doubt that I could even hold off from jumping on a second or third viewing. Overall, this was an excellent film. Watching it in a theatre or a quiet, dark room is a must! It is an awesome theatre experience, that will please any suspense, horror, or mystery fan.