5. The Orphanage (2007)
Ask anyone what the scariest horror movie tropes are, and odds are you’ll hear two answers quite regularly: haunted or abandoned locations, and creepy children. 2007’s The Orphanage just happens to have both. A Spanish film directed by J.A. Bayona, The Orphanage may not be the most well-known horror flick, but it’s truly terrifying.
The Orphanage follows a woman named Laura, who returns to the abandoned orphanage that was her home as a child. Planning to turn it into a home for disabled children, Laura sets about preparing to open the orphanage, only for her adopted son Simón to go missing. Hoping to locate her missing child, Laura is forced to confront the building’s dark and disturbing past.
The film was received well by critics, who praised its unnerving atmosphere and willingness to embrace a less traditional approach to its scares. It evokes shades of horror stories by the likes of Stephen King and Shirley Jackson, topped off with a dark gothic flair. It also has a child in a creepy mask, so there’s that, too. Terrifying.