Some Movies Did Not Pass My Monday Night Test… The Others Did
Written: Mar 23 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Kidman, Suspense, Leaves the scares to the viewers imagination
Cons: Not a one
The Bottom Line: may or may not be haunted
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| dbcint's Full Review: |
Today marks two years since I first joined Epinions. Last year, I marked my anniversary by starting a write/off, which wasn’t exactly successful. This year, I have an announcement to make, which can be found in my long biography on my profile page. That contains the full details, but for a brief teaser I’ll say that this review will be the last I’ll post for a while.
For a lot of people, Monday is an absolute bitch of a day, because it’s the beginning of the working week. Personally, I’m rather fond of Monday as it’s a fairly relaxing day on my current timetable. But if Monday is a hard day for you, what better way to unwind than with a good movie? TV3 has come to the party, premiering a new movie every Monday night. That led me to start conducting my Monday night test. If I’m vaguely interested in what they’re showing, I’ll watch. If it looks stupid after about 20 minutes, I’ll switch off. If I can watch it up until about the 45 minute mark and want to keep watching but am just too tired, then I’ll turn off and it goes on the ‘to be seen’ list for next time I’m at Blockbuster.
So far, only one movie has kept me watching all the way through, simply because it was so damn good. That movie was "The Others".
Of course, I’m not surprised this was the case. It’s a film that offers a ghost story (good), and features Nicole Kidman (even better). There’s a lot of potential for this film to be bloody brilliant, and it does not disappoint.
"The Others" stars Kidman as Grace, a solo mother living in a big old mansion in the middle of nowhere. Her two children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bently) have a rare photosensitive condition that means too much light will kill them. Thus, all the curtains in the house must be drawn at all times, and every door must be closed and locked before another is to be opened. Grace’s husband, Charles, went to fight in the war and his family are still waiting for him to return.
That’s the existence Grace and her children have been living for a long time. One day, their world is changed when three workers Grace advertised for turn up. Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan) appears to be the leader of the three, and interacts with Grace most often.
Soon after the workers arrive, Anne starts believing there are ghosts in the house, and although Grace doesn’t believe in that sort of nonsense, but even she has to admit a few strange things have been happening lately… such as those servants turning up when the ad wasn’t even collected by the postie.
There’s not much in this film to talk about if you want to be negative, but those who are particularly picky could look at the plotline and see sweet bugger all. The film does take a bit to get going and set the scene, and at times it seems there isn’t really a story until about the last ten minutes or so. The rest of the film consists of a lot of strange happenings, many of which there’s a logical explanation for.
However, throughout the film there is an underlying sense that something just isn’t quite right in that house. It’s nothing you can put your finger on, it’s just a gut feeling that was built into the script. It doesn’t matter how many of these logical explanations you’re provided, or how often Grace tells the kids (and the audience) to stop being so silly because there’s no such thing as ghosts, you still can’t help but think she’s wrong and there is a reason to be scared after all. It’s this "sixth sense", if you will, that keeps the film going and keeps the viewers interested. Helping the sixth sense with this job is Kidman’s voice. As coincidences pile up she starts to doubt her own convictions and think maybe something is going on, and as the next coincidence hits a bit more doubt creeps into Kidman’s voice.
Kidman is fully on par here, as she normally is. Grace is a stern, no-nonsense, heavily religious, solo mother back in wartime. Straight from the first few scenes you can tell exactly what kind of person Grace is, and Kidman relishes this opportunity to just set out and play a character to absolute perfection for the entirety of the film.
Flanagan brings yet another sense of creepiness to the film. Her unflappable style of seeming somewhat robotic and a little too perfect for the character’s job is completely intentional. It’s designed to make you think she may hold the key to explaining exactly what is going on in the old house.
The child actors do an extraordinary job of keeping the audience spooked. The relationship between Anne and Nicholas seems eerily like the one I had with my sister when I was younger. Sister just that small amount older and trying to control the actions of her brother. The difference is that Nicholas is perfectly willing to believe anything his sister tells him and as such goes along with Anne when she thinks the house is haunted. Between the pair of them, it’s these two kids who will really keep you on the edge of your seat.
But far and above, the best – and spookiest – part of "The Others" is the complete lack of SFX. Whereas other modern horrors will try to dazzle you with SFX in order to scare you, "The Others" knows that the scariest thing that can be brought into a horror film is an active imagination – especially an overactive one. The scares here do not come from what pops out from behind that door, but from the endless of possibilities of what might pop out from behind that door, if anything at all. Some great suspenseful music is used to alert our imaginations that something might happen here, and there’s times when nothing does and you’ll kick yourself for getting so worked up.
But that’s the whole point – you will get worked up. The dark tone and dark surroundings of the film will see to that. Thanks to the doors needing to be locked and curtains drawn at all times, the house is always very dark, and it’s in the middle of nowhere. If there’s any haunted houses in this world, that’s bound to be one of them. It’s perfect territory for a ghost.
So what exactly is going on in Grace’s house? You’ll have to watch to find out, but the second half of the film will definitely have you questioning everything you’ve been told, and as such you’ve got no idea what’s going on, or what to expect when the film does reach it’s conclusion.
"The Others" is a film that makes good use of mood and lighting to create genuine scares instead of artificial ones.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dbcint
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Member: Dean Cowie
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand
Reviews written: 197
Trusted by: 39 members
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