Not to confuse you while “Orphan” is still in theaters, but there’s some exciting news for horror fans regarding Guillermo Del Toro’s remake of the spooky foreign film “The Orphanage.” Low-budget cult filmmaker/actor Larry Fessenden, known for such environmentally conscious paranormal thrillers as “Wendigo” and “The Last Winter,” has been tapped to direct the English-language version, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Fessenden also co-wrote the adaptation with Del Toro, producer of both the original and the coming remake.
For those who are unfamiliar with the original, “The Orphanage” is a 2007 Spanish-language film from director Juan Antonio Bayana (who’d been a rumored candidate to direct “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” awhile back) about a woman who returns to the orphanage she grew up in. There she is haunted by the ghost of a kid wearing a burlap sack as a mask.
It’s the kind of well-crafted horror film that really sticks in your mind -- and nightmares -- long after it is over. For a peek at just how creepy it is, watch here as the woman first encounters the sack-wearing ghost while searching for her missing son.
Fessenden is an inspired choice to direct the film, because Hollywood typically picks novice filmmakers with music video backgrounds or imports unrelated foreign auteurs for horror remakes. Del Toro clearly shows good taste in selecting an acclaimed indie director with a modest following and the skills to adequately handle the story.
It is also interesting that Fessenden is taking on a remake, and I’m somewhat glad he is. He’s a much better director than he is a writer, having particular difficulty with endings. And there’s absolutely no reason that either he or Del Toro would call for a change to the original's ending.
Aside from his screenwriting flaws, Fessenden’s conlusions often suffer from having terrible low-budget special effects. This remake should have a big enough budget that the filmmaker won’t have the same problem here. Not that a finely crafted horror film like "The Orphanage" really requires much in the way of visual effects. All Fessenden needs is a kid, a sack and his usual talent for presenting viewers with eerie and thrilling scenes of psychological horror.
Have you see the original? Are you familiar with Fessenden's work? Anything you'd like to see him do differently with the remake? Does that clip scare the pants off of you?
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