The Others (2001)

The Others

This movie is awesome! What an unbelievable twist in the end. For once, you get to see what it feels like to be on the OTHER side. August 5, 2008

the others

I thought that this was a good movie. They had all these strange rules like closing one door before opening another then locking them and having all the curtains closed, etc. Then in bonus footage you learn that xps is a real condition. The characters were really quite interesting, although the husband's story was a little weak. One thing that viewers might find slightly offensive is that it kind of knocks Christianity a little and also the mother says to ask for forgiveness of the virgin. It also is lacking a kind of moral message that would make it a movie that people would watch over and over again. Over all though it's an interesting movie with lots of twists and a good ending. July 1, 2008

Beautiful movie.

The funny thing is, I thought this movie would just be a cheesy horror flick... but it turns out to be a beautifully touching movie. Yes, it is a scary movie, but it's certainly got a lot more depth to it than any other I've ever seen. Beautiful movie. Just watch it! June 29, 2008

Frightening Delight

For a film that reeks of "The Sixth Sense" (the M. Night Shyamalan juggernaut that set a new precedent for paranormal movies), "The Others" still manages to hold its own with a talented cast, excellent and subtle visual effects and a rousing ghost story that like the above mentioned film, contains a predictable yet entertaining twist.

Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman is Grace, a young woman living in the seclusion of the Channel Islands during the close of World War II. Her grand estate has mysteriously emptied itself of each and every one of its servants and with her husband on the front line in France, she is forced to take matters into her own hands and hire an entirely new staff. Before she has even placed an ad in the paper, a man and two women show up at her stoop one misty morning looking for work. Bertha Mills (Flanagan), Mr. Tuttle (Sykes) and Lydia (Cassidy) all previously served in Grace's household years ago when another family occupied its grand quarters. Relieved by their familiarity with the grounds, Grace hires them with nary an inquisition. All she asks of them is their strict attention to the invariable darkness, for Nicolas (Bentley) and Anne (Mann), her two young children, are inflicted with a rare disease that makes them allergic to sunlight - too much exposure can prove fatal.

Once all are settled and the house makes it slow recovery from disrepair, strange goings-on begin to occur. Noises are heard, unidentified voices whisper through the dark hallways and Nicolas and Anne are harassed by an entity named Victor, a young spirit with whom Anne has conversed on several occasions. An ardent Catholic, Grace is skeptical about the possibility of the house being haunted and passes Anne's and Nicolas's allegations off as outrageous stories, forcing them to repent for so-called lies by reading passages out of the bible for hours on end. All the while, Grace fights her own battle with loneliness and the steady slip of her sanity, her grief over the extensive absence of her husband Charles (Eccleston) and the pressure of caring for two children on her own pushing her to the edge.

Director Alejandro Amenabar literally had carte blanche when he did this picture - not only did he direct, but he wrote the screenplay and composed the entire original score, a combination of haunting and beautiful compositions. For a 28-year-old director who was flattered by the 2001 remake of his film "Obre Los Ojos" ("Vanilla Sky") and assumed three major aspects of a motion picture, Amenabar is not just multi-talented - he's an entrepreneur.

In a film like this, lighting and sound are integral and they become metaphoric as well. It is used to great effect by Amenabar - we are at first almost completely in the dark about the truth. Then, slowly, as more light is poured upon it, we begin to see bit by bit the terrible secret that Grace and her children have been hiding all this time. Shadows are aplenty here and the more there are the scarier it is, the viewer's eyes playing just as many tricks on them as the characters. When there is light, it is either stark and blinding or finely covered with cloud and haze, in keeping with the characters' inability to see beyond the present. In order to get the best scares out of his audience, Amenabar keeps the score quiet and illusive, at times completely absent so that the creaks and bumps of the vast manor are all the more disquieting.

There isn't a bad performance to be found here, the movie filled with talented newcomers and favored veterans. Kidman, now an Oscar winner for "The Hours", is the stand-out as Grace, a woman who inwardly endures immense despair and hides her tortured heart from the world with a steely front and her staunch faith. Also excellent are Fionnula Flanagan (Waking Ned Devine) as the warm-hearted Mrs. Mills and Alakina Mann as the headstrong Anne - Mann has to be one of the least precocious and most talented child actors I've seen in a while. I hope she gets more work.

The Dimension Collector's Series 2-disc edition has some interesting bonus material, in particular the Visual Effects Piece which shows all the different layers of digital effects used to create the spooky environs of the mansion and its grounds. Also of interest is the segment "Xeroderma Pigmentosum: What Is It? The Story of a Family Dealing with the Disease Portrayed in The Others" as well as a making-of documentary on the film and a docu-interview on Alejandro Amenabar.

Bottom line: If you haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" or you just like a good ghost story in general, "The Others" is guaranteed to satisfy on many levels.
June 25, 2008

Body Snatchers

I still like the original better, since it was before its time, however, Nicole Kidman is sure a good actress. This movie is one I recommend for anyone that is into science fiction and adventure movies. It is very good, entertainment personified. LOVE IT************ June 15, 2008

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