The Spanish psychological thriller "The Orphanage" (yes, it does have English subtitles) opened late last year and went into wide release in January. Those who love horror and suspense thrillers are probably overlooking this film, simply because it is in a foreign language, has not received the sort of publicity reserved for American suspense thrillers, and has no actors which are familiar to American audiences. If they are deliberately overlooking it, they are making a serious mistake.

I normally do not go to the theatres to see the type of film which involves ghosts and other scary goings on, but I saw this film and thoroughly enjoyed it. Far from being the usual slasher-dismemberment type of film so popular with young audiences, this is an intelligent, beautifully made, interesting thriller with many memorable moments.

The story revolves around Laura (Belen Rueda, who played Javier Bardem's legal advocate in "The Sea Inside"). She is a young wife and mother who, having been raised in an orphanage and subsequently adopted as a child, has now purchased the building and intends to open it as a home for young disabled orphans. (The disability angle is beautifully handled, never resorting to any sort of condescension.) Laura and her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) are themselves the adoptive parents of a cute little orphaned boy, Simon (Roger Princep). Simon, however, has been shielded from two potentially life-shattering facts: 1) he is HIV-positive, and 2) he knows nothing about having been adopted. Simon has a lively imagination - he is prone to mentioning what seem to be imaginary playmates. At one point, he takes his mother to a nearby cave on the seashore next to the orphanage, and wanders inside, where he has a long conversation with Tomas, his favorite playmate (presumably imaginary, but not necessarily).

An elderly social worker, ironically named Benigna (Montserrat Carulla), claiming to have once worked at the orphanage, soon shows up completely uninvited and unexpected, saying that she has important information about Simon. She is so transparently sinister, however, that Laura shows her the door, and that night, Benigna is spotted prowling around the outside of the house. However, when Carlos and Laura try to apprehend her, she vanishes, and Carlos begins to doubt his wife's mental condition. Not long after that, after a confrontation, Simon reveals to his parents that he knows he is adopted and that he is dying.

Carlos and Laura make inquiries about Benigna and discover that no person of that name ever worked at the orphanage. When the disabled children arrive, the now-resentful Simon refuses to come downstairs to welcome them. Upbraided by Laura, he retreats to another corner of the house - and never reappears.

Frantic with worry and guilt, Laura and Carlos begin their search for the child, and it is here that the story enters the realm of the supernatural. After more inquiries, they discover that six children that Laura knew from her childhood have died - one by accident. The other five were apparently murdered. And Laura may have seen the ghost of one of the children.

I will not reveal any more twists in the story, and there are many. However, it is not the story itself which makes "The Orphanage" such a remarkable suspense-cum-horror film, it is the way the story is told. Atmosphere is very, very carefully built up. The thriller elements are only hinted at, although there is one severe jolt shortly after Laura discovers that Simon is missing, and another one later in the film. The photography is eerie and yet friendly at the same time, with the happy moments that Laura once spent in the orphanage occasionally referred to or shown in flashback. The characters are not used as mere stereotypes that are put there to be frightened along with the audience.

However, the fact that the story builds up gradually does not mean that it is boring, or that it is not as creepy as it could be. On the contrary, director Juan Antonio Bayona wrings every drop of anxiety and dread out of his story, never allowing the audience to relax. Something terrifying seems always about to happen, even when it actually doesn't.

I do not see a modern suspense masterpiece very often, while most modern suspense films I see are entertaining, they are not films that I imagine becoming true classics. However, I boldly predict that "The Orphanage" will become one, and I have heard that there are already plans to do an English-language American remake in the future. I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised. If this is true, no doubt an American studio will be unable to recreate the special atmosphere and distinctive touches of the original - a true example of cannibalizing an excellent motion picture. They will most likely go in for cheap "Friday the 13th"-type thrills, with elaborately staged ghost sequences.

Not surprisingly, "The Orphanage" has been completely snubbed by the Academy, even after winning seven Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar) in its own country. The Foreign Film Category, which also snubbed "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", needs to be seriously investigated so that it can avoid such blunders.

If you want to see for yourself how a first-rate film can be made out of an ordinary spooky-old-house-with ghosts premise, search out "The Orphanage" in your city, or rent the DVD when it is released. And no, the subtitles are not irritating in the least.