Forwardcharm

Latest News

09 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1! Yes, there's a brand new Fantasy Formula One game! Check the rules or Enter your team by Friday night to qualify for the first race in Bahrain!

08 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Mexico are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Jordan on 1st April.

17 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The points awarded for a win have changed in the real WRC, so we've reflected the changes in our scoring too. Check the rules to see the details. Next rally is Mexico on 5th March, teams will be frozen at midnight on the night of Thursday 4th March.

16 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Sweden are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team.

31 / 01 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The new rally season is upon us - 2010 Fantasy Rally is now open! Check the rules or pick a team ready for the start on 12th Feb.

25 / 10 / 2009
Fantasy Rally: All previous years' Fantasy Rally results are online - Check the 2009 season.

02 / 08 / 2009
Reviews: Sorry, there won't be any more movie reviews for the foreseeable future. Events have overtaken me. Catch up on reviews you may have missed.

18 / 08 / 2005
Sudoku! Have a go at the online Sudoku game.

The Orphanage (El Orfanato)

Cast: Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep.

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona. Spanish with English subtitles.

Story: Spooky goings-on in an orphanage.

Running Time: 1hr 45 minutes.

UK Certificate 15.

The Orphanage is a spooky Spanish tale of a missing boy - it's been done before, but rarely as well as this.

Belen Rueda can't stand fecking Jehovah's Witnesses. They're cheeky swines, these movie men. It was Guillermo del Toro's name that made me see The Orphanage - his previous Pan's Labyrinth having caught the Oscar panel's interest a couple of years ago. However del Toro doesn't seem to be involved at all - he merely "presents" the movie, whatever that means, and is one of seven producers. If it had turned out to be a turkey I would've been highly narked, but as it happens this con trick has worked in my favour, because it's a darned good movie. Following very similar tracks as The Dark and The Missing, the orphanage proprietor loses her adopted son amidst supernatural tales of ghostly kids. Is she going loco? Well, I mean more loco, she is a woman after all. Ahem.

'Start a family,' they said, 'it'll be fun!' Fans of chillers will be right at home here - the movie eschews the lazy but popular in-your-face crash-bang approach and creates proper suspense by building up the tension skilfully. I had bare arms when I saw it and the little hairs on them were all struggling to get a look at the screen during the creepy bits. All was going very well until the end, when it all unravelled somewhat. Reading the plot now, I can see how it all fits together and how I could've understood it at the time, but it's presented in a very ambiguous way, leaving you wondering how you're supposed to interpret what you've just seen. A second viewing will help immensely, but I would've preferred a slightly clearer narrative in the first place.

The Orphanage is well worth your time, especially if you like your movies on the chilly side. It's expertly played and highly respected - if you like to show that you know about movies then you can't afford to miss it. It's a buff's movie.

I enjoyed this film: 4/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 4/5

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 1/5

To enjoy this film you should be: chillable.

The Orphanage was released in the UK on 21st March 2008.