The Others: Movie Review (2008)
10/26/2008 Posted by Admin
Editor's Note: I really liked Alejandro Amenabar's "The Others" when it appeared in 2001. I liked it specifically because it was a ghost story told well and without the gore so common in today's horror movies. It isn't that gore is a turn-off for me; it's just that without a good script to back it up, it just becomes about the bloodletting, not the story nor the characters. If you don't have the latter two, you don't have much.
For those seeking a good ghost story this Halloween, look to "The Others."
“The Others”
Alejandro Amenabar’s "The Others" stars Nicole Kidman as Grace, a gorgeous young aristocrat reminiscent of Grace Kelly who’s living alone with her two children in a sprawling Victorian mansion on the British Isle of Jersey.The year is 1945, Grace’s husband (Christopher Eccleston) hasn’t returned from World War II and is feared dead, and her children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), are suffering from a disease that makes them fatally susceptible to light.
Fastidious and grim, her lean body sewn tightly into haute couture, Grace keeps the mansion in almost total darkness, shutting out the daylight by blocking the windows with heavy curtains, and protecting her children by locking them away in one of the mansion’s 50 shadowy rooms. It’s a wonderful set-up for the macabre, but one whose success demands that little more be revealed here.
Recalling Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” Peter Medak’s “The Changeling” and M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense,” “The Others” is an old fashioned ghost story that understands the conventions of the genre and uses them well. It doesn’t rely on cheap thrills to generate tension and fear--its utter lack of special effects is one of its greatest strengths--but its ability to surprise will depend on the level of its audience’s sophistication.Indeed, there will be those who will delight in Amenabar’s ending, and others who will see it coming long before the final reel. One of the marks of a great horror film is its ability to keep everyone guessing. As good as “The Others” is, it falls short of that.
Grade: B+
October 26, 2008 at 12:59 PM
I want to see this one Christopher because I love ghost movies!!!
Thanks for the reviews & giveaways!
October 26, 2008 at 7:25 PM
I loved this movie! I was totally not expecting the ending.
October 27, 2008 at 4:04 AM
October 27, 2008 at 4:08 AM
Great film. From the mind of the original Vanilla Sky. The film took place in such a time of bore yet the film managed to keep you hooked and pulled in. To give such care right from the start with the first frame, of a SCREAM. Since mention of this older horror flick from a spanish film-maker, one might also was to check out the Orphanage. It would appear the best horror films come from afar, Japan with J-Horror, Mexico with Del Toro, and Giallos from Dario Argento. Great mention.
Although one of the scariest moments came on the DVD. After me and my best friend watched the film we sat for the behind the scenes. Knowing that kids are jumpy and hard to control to get a shot, it shocked us the director almost smacked the hell out of kid and snatched her up forcefully, whoa.