Best Creepy Film of the Decade

El orfanato (2008) (aka The Orphanage)

I start getting excited every fall as Halloween approaches. Fall is my favorite season. Football is in full swing. The weather is cool. The leaves turn beautiful shades of orange, crimson, and yellow. And, most importantly, it’s the appropriate time to curl up on the couch with the one you love, in a pitch black house, and watch a scary movie.

There have been few great scary movies in my opinion. Halloween. The Exorcist. They qualify. Some movies, however, are just flat out creepy. Rosemary’s Baby and The Silence of the Lambs would fit into this category. If these films are up your alley, check out The Orphanage. It creeped me out, which is why it earned the moniker of the Creepiest Film of the Decade.

First, you need to know this is a Spanish film. Well, those of you who know Spanish realize that from the true title of the film. So if you hate reading subtitles, skip this flick. However, if you can read and watch with ease, and you don’t mind a little Edgar Alan Poeish storytelling, Netflix this now (or, if you’re like me, wait until October and watch it for a Fall Fright).

The film is pretty simple in its premise. Laura and her husband move back to her childhood home to open up the home as an orphanage for children with handicapping conditions. After arriving, her son starts communicating with an imaginary friend, Tomas. Laura and her husband cough this up to kids being kids, and they steadfastly work on improving their new home. Soon, house rumblings and a freaky old woman show up, and the creepiness begins. If I said anymore I might ruin this film … so I’ll shut up.

The acting is first rate, the direction suspenseful and moody. I will say this is not a Saw rip-off, or a retread of Hollywood horror crap. It’s moody, tense, and not gory. What it is, is creepy, and that’s always good for getting the one you love to cuddle up closer and closer as the film progresses.