The Orphanage (2007) is a little suspense/horror offering from Guillermo del Toro, the visionary behind the darkly haunting fairy tale Pan’s Labyrinth. Like Pan’s Labyrinth, the Orphanage is in Spanish with English subtitles and like Pan’s Labyrinth, the movie hinges on the world and imagination of children.

The premise is simple. Laura, a grown woman of 37, has bought the old orphanage she grew up in. She is moving in with her doctor husband and young son Simon and they plan to use the place to house children of special needs. Since it is a horror movie, the house is big and darkly paneled, and young Simon starts out with a couple of imaginary friends. It’s not too long before something(s) inexplicable happens and Laura starts to learn the secret of the orphanage.

Fans of the recent slew of slasher and zombie movies will be sorely disappointed. There’s very little gore in the Orphanage. The horror is mostly in the suspense of the camera trackings and gloomy atmosphere that seems to be the trademark of a Del Toro film. There’s more dialogue than you would expect from a horror film (which I find to be a refreshing change) and the climax and resolution, when it comes, is satisfying and tinged with more than a little sadness (yet another Del Toro element.)

I only wished the Orphanage had a more memorable score, something that would immediately evoke the feel and sense of its story.