A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
After Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.
A man who specialises in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Director:
Mikael Håfström
Stars:
John Cusack,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Mary McCormack
Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children and throws a party. During the party Simón tries to persuade Laura to go and take a look at his friends cabin but she's too busy. Later on she sees a mysterious masked boy and realizes that Simón has also disappeared. Laura feels the presence of other people in the house and months later Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Although uncredited, Guillermo del Toro plays the doctor at the Emergency Ward who tends to Laura after she injures her leg. See more »
Goofs
In the scene where Laura is watching the old films, when we see one of the shots of Tomas, his eye hole is on the wrong side. In the next shot, it is on the right side again. See more »
This film is less like a traditional horror movie and more of a drama/mystery with strong supernatural elements. The setup is that Laura, who once lived at an orphanage, returns to the orphanage with her husband and son to start it up again as a place for special needs children. Of course, it all seems simple, but there are mysteries abound in this story and the revelations trickle in over the course of the tale.
The film isn't particularly frightening, although it has a couple of jumpy moments. Rather than focusing on creating an atmosphere of fear, instead it works on drawing up sympathy for Laura's plight as events transpire against her and her family and the past comes back to haunt her. It's an interesting meditation on loss as well that had a wonderful potential to straddle the line between real-world and supernatural (but don't worry folks, it doesn't--it's firmly supernatural and you know it from early on). Nonetheless, that you could imagine this film working even if the supernatural elements were just in Laura's mind and that's a pretty good thing for the drama.
The technical aspects of the film are all sound (although I noticed a couple of background gaffs, but I think you'd have to look for them), with clear direction, capable lensing and design. The actors all do a good job of rendering their characters (children fare believably enough) and Belen Rueda carries the film well as the central protagonist. The story itself doesn't reach any great depths, but unraveling the mystery with the film is enjoyable.
It's nothing stunning, but in the world of horror films, it easily stands a shoulder above the regular flotsam that the genre tends to churn out. At that, it's no terrible film and could be recommended if you're looking for a relatively intelligent and well composed supernatural horror-type film. Just don't expect bloodbaths and constant shocks. 7/10.
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This film is less like a traditional horror movie and more of a drama/mystery with strong supernatural elements. The setup is that Laura, who once lived at an orphanage, returns to the orphanage with her husband and son to start it up again as a place for special needs children. Of course, it all seems simple, but there are mysteries abound in this story and the revelations trickle in over the course of the tale.
The film isn't particularly frightening, although it has a couple of jumpy moments. Rather than focusing on creating an atmosphere of fear, instead it works on drawing up sympathy for Laura's plight as events transpire against her and her family and the past comes back to haunt her. It's an interesting meditation on loss as well that had a wonderful potential to straddle the line between real-world and supernatural (but don't worry folks, it doesn't--it's firmly supernatural and you know it from early on). Nonetheless, that you could imagine this film working even if the supernatural elements were just in Laura's mind and that's a pretty good thing for the drama.
The technical aspects of the film are all sound (although I noticed a couple of background gaffs, but I think you'd have to look for them), with clear direction, capable lensing and design. The actors all do a good job of rendering their characters (children fare believably enough) and Belen Rueda carries the film well as the central protagonist. The story itself doesn't reach any great depths, but unraveling the mystery with the film is enjoyable.
It's nothing stunning, but in the world of horror films, it easily stands a shoulder above the regular flotsam that the genre tends to churn out. At that, it's no terrible film and could be recommended if you're looking for a relatively intelligent and well composed supernatural horror-type film. Just don't expect bloodbaths and constant shocks. 7/10.