American 187

Scary movies in American are, for the most part, pathetic. The typical “horror” film consists of gruesome scenes of torture (read: torture porn), slaughter, and quick cuts and edits. These films are your typical ‘R’ rated blood and guts endurance tests or those PG-13 abominations to cash in on the current trend. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good bloody romp for 90 mins but it seems to me (and many more) that there is lack of any originality. Its the same old shit different movie. At a recent trip to Block Buster I really took notice of all the copy cat ’scary’ movies and I have lost faith in the horror genre until……

I saw Juan Antonio Bayona’s brilliant and suspenseful film, The Orphanage. Produced by Gillermo del Toro (he directed last years excellent film: Pans Labyrinth and Hell Boy) the orphanage is an excellent example of what a scary movie should be. Instead of the usual bag of tricks such as quick cuts and globs of gore to get frights, Bayona prefers to use the story, characters, and suspense to give the audience white knuckles. Bayonas opts to let the characters develop into something more than a cardboard cutout. We learn what these people are about and begin to care when things begin to happen. Overall this is an amazing film and the best I’ve seen thus far (yes i realize its only January 20th but the next few weeks looks bleak for movie goers).

By now you may be asking ‘what the fuck is this movie, and why haven’t I ever heard of it?’ Well thats because its a foreign movie and those don’t tend to do well in mainstream America. Turns out the American audience for the most part don’t like to read during their movies. They need instant gratification. Well I’m hear to tell those who may be reading this: go see this fucking movie, you wont regret it.

(If you have gotten this far your probably wondering where the synopsis of the film is. There isn’t one. The less you know about this little movie the better experience you’ll have.)

(Trailer for your convenience)