Cinefantastique Online

FantasyMoguls.Com has a post that previews upcoming art house releases, including a scary new Spanish thriller, THE ORPHANAGE:

Dan Aykroyd said it best — “You wanna see something really scary?” — when it comes to the Spanish sensation of the year, The Orphanage (Dec. 28). From its premiere last May at the Cannes Film Festival (proving once again how eclectic that one can be), to its spectacular opening this fall in Spain, The Orphanagehas garnered a terrific word of mouth, combining festival favors, criticial support and popular infatuation. A first feature by young filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona, the spooky thriller tells of a 40-ish woman who buys the old orphanage where she grew up before being adopted, and settles in with her husband and son. The latter begins to worry her, after he pretends to have met new friends only he can see, and starts playing with them.

I know, this doesn’t sound all that original, especially from the Spanish cinema that already gave us two great films in the same vein: Darkness and The Others. And yet, reviews have been excellent, and the pic has dominated the Iberian box-office all through October and November (even though Spain is known, lately, for its lack of interest in national cinema), garnering numbers worthy of a Spider-Man or Harry Potter movie.

In the United States, The Orphanageis being distributed by Picturehouse, the small company that scored a real coup last year with Pan’s Labyrinth. Bayona’s film has a lot in common with Pan: Spanish language, scary theme, Picturehouse distribution, Guillermo Del Toro (who produced Orphanage and directed Pan), Cannes debut. Don’t expect the same kind of success though, as it seems very unlikely that The Orphanagecould ever pull down $37 million at the US box-office, get an 8.5 User Rating or win three Oscars. On the other hand, take a look at the price tag in Ultimate Movie Moguls leagues. Yep, you read that right: $3. The R-rated scary movie, the official Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, is probably the best film there is in the $2-$3 price range. On such a busy weekend, it  probably won’t bring home many PTA points, but 1 or 2 is very likely, and the current User Rating of 7.7 on IMDb is solid, with more than 1,100 votes. Commercial prospects are iffy at best, but in Box Office Moguls leagues, the film costs even less ($2).