Ghost of a chance

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) (MA15+) 3½ stars Limited national release AS the deeply disappointing Shutter demonstrated amply, filmed ghost stories present unusual challenges but they have, through the years, provided some enthralling entertainment: Dead of Night, The Uninvited and The Haunting all come to mind.

Belen Rueda in a scene from The Orphanage.

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) (MA15+) 3½ stars Limited national release AS the deeply disappointing Shutter demonstrated amply, filmed ghost stories present unusual challenges but they have, through the years, provided some enthralling entertainment: Dead of Night, The Uninvited and The Haunting all come to mind.

Then there is that intriguing sub-genre, the ghost story in which children are involved, such as The Innocents and The Others. The latter was a Spanish production and now a new Spanish film, The Orphanage, confirms that ghostly children can provide powerful material for the country's filmmakers.

The Orphanage's executive producer is Guillermo del Toro, director of the marvellous Pan's Labyrinth, a fantasy involving a little girl. In that impressive, darkly sinister study of childhood, del Toro evoked memories of one of the greatest classics of Spanish cinema, The Spirit of the Beehive, which also involved children who were, in a sense, haunted. But Juan Antonio Bayona's film is more conventional than either of these, even though it works perfectly well within its own limitations.

The setting is one of those marvellously spooky houses close to the sea. Years ago it was an orphanage where terrible things happened, but now it's owned by a couple, Laura (Belen Rueda) and Carlos (Fernando Caya), who plan to turn it into a home for the disabled.

They have a young son, Simon (Roger Princep), who is unaware that he is adopted or that he's ill (he's HIV positive), and his mother is determined to keep these facts a secret from him. But then unusual things start to happen. There's a visit from a seriously strange social worker (Montserrat Carulla) who used to work at the orphanage when Laura was a child there, and Simon starts talking to an imaginary friend.

When Simon disappears without trace, the tension mounts as the mysterious house seems alive with sinister noises: knocking, sighs and whispers. Laura consults a medium (played by long-time Spanish resident Geraldine Chaplin), who tells her that dead children are inhabiting the house; spooky stuff indeed. That Simon had been reading J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, which is also a story about lost children, adds another dimension to the unsettling drama.

There's no doubt that Bayona has learned his haunted house lessons well. Sounds are amplified to scary effect, doors slam, floorboards creak, the wind howls. All of this wouldn't count for much, though, if the resolution proved to be a fizzer.

Fortunately, Bayona and his screenwriter, Sergio G. Sanchez, play fair with the audience: the resolution is convincing but nonetheless disturbing for that. Essentially, The Orphanage goes beyond the superficialities of the average horror movie to delve into more important themes, such as grief and guilt. This allows some good opportunities for the actors and Rueda (so memorable in The Sea Inside) is exceptionally good as the increasingly distraught Laura.

Even if you normally avoid this sort of film, The Orphanage is worth a look; it transcends the limitations of its genre.