10 Spanish Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die

In a world where we have the fantastic Netflix series Haunting of Hill House, The Orphanage set the standard by cramming all the complexity and scares it took 10 episodes to set up into a 105-minute runtime.

Horror likes to revisit the rose-colored past with horrifying results. In this story, our protagonist, Laura, has happy memories of her childhood in an orphanage. She convinces her husband to invest in the worst real estate investment ever, an old orphanage. She plans turning the building into a home for sick children. While converting the place from creepy to healing, Laura's HIV-positive adopted child goes missing. After months, he is presumed dead, but Laura is seeing apparitions that lead her to believe otherwise.

After making it cool to read subtitles , Guillermo Del Toro did more than just lend his name to the producer credits of this motion picture. After meeting director Juan Antonio Bayona at a film festival, Del Toro offered to co-produce the movie in order to ensure Bayona got to see his vision through to the end. The result is a chilling and unique take on the typical ghost story.

The Orphanage is a phenomenon. The ominous image of a little boy with a creepy burlap sack mask has become iconic. It is also the second highest-grossing debut ever for a Spanish film. At this point, if you haven’t seen it, that is on you.