The Others

Rating:
Summary: in the haunted house tradition
Review: Nicole Kidman does a superb job in "The Others"; maybe she should have received her Academy Award nomination for this movie rather than for "Moulin Rouge." The movie is true to the form of of the haunted house tradition, and the atmosphere is dark, the focus foggy. Women may like this movie better than men, as it is talky and not an action movie, but the suspense slowly builds and the climax is truly surprising. There are strong performances by the supporting cast of lesser known actors, and the children are portrayed skillfully and authenthically. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed this one!
Review: Although the plot is somewhat similar to a movie that was out not too long ago....the movie has an old fashion ghost story charm to it. Nicole Kidman is excellent. If you like the old ghost story type movies you will love this.

Rating:
Summary: --And Things That Go Bump In the Night
Review: This eerie, candlelit film mostly taking place in a large but claustrophobic manor house exerts a static pressure that is relentless. So many doors and all must be locked, unlocked, and relocked. Curtains must be closed at all times, then drawn tighter lest a ray of lights gets through. The two children of the house have a rare genetic allergy to light (Polymorphic Light Reaction Syndrome) and can suffer blisters, boils, even 3rd degree burns if exposed to sunlight. The time is 1945, the mother and children are alone in the house, the husband/father is missing in action, presumed dead

While the credits roll, the mother, Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) is reading to the children by candlelight. All are seated around a table presenting a homey, if somewhat shadowy, scene. The movie formally begins with a petrifying scream by Grace jolted awake from a nightmare in her pleasant sun-filled bedroom. She quickly dresses and rushes to answer the doorbell. Nicole Kidman convinces in a glance that her character is strung out taut as a bowstring, but striving to contain her many fears and anxieties. She dresses in a dowdy manner---skirt a bit long, dowdy shoes, and sensible tweeds. She has a remarkable resemblance to the late Grace Kelly in this film, which I think shows Kidman's forensic abilities. Kidman is naturally graceful, which Kelly was not. The mother's edgy movements and slight awkwardness heighten her fragility and rigid inflexibility.

A strange trio greets her at the door who inform her they have come in response to her need for servants. (Grace has not yet advertised). They are housekeeper Mrs. Mills (the marvelous Fionnula Flanagan, who is presently appearing in the Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood in a completely different type of role), a Gardner, and a mute girl-of-all-work. Grace, though flustered, immediately shows them around and explains their complicated duties. They meet the two children who are quickly drawn to the kindly Ms. Mills. The little girl Anne (Alakina Mann) is especially commendable for her perfect balance of sweetness, suspicions, and stubbornness that always seem just right for a very bright little girl.

Particularly grating on the mother is the ghostly goings on in the old house. Music plays, doors open and shut, footsteps are heard, and the children refer to a boy named Victor who visits them. These occurrences are almost too much for the mother who has an unbending, fundamental, religious outlook. The servants obviously know a lot more than they are saying about what is going on in the house.

This somber, almost stately film has a jolting crash of a conclusion. So startling was this finale, the moviegoer does not even have time to grasp the consequences---and it is over. An excellent film. Kudos to the director and his star!

Rating:
Summary: Totally Predictable!
Review: The look, acting and directing was great! Some genuine scares.

NOW THE BAD NEWS, from the first 5 minutes you know how it's going to end up. (that's assuming you see the first five minutes and you have a filmatic viewing education past age 9). With all honesty, there were a few twists and turns, but overall, it's pretty bloody obvious.

Conclusion, director Amenabaris not a brilliant scriptwriter. He got away with the original "Open Your Eyes" and certainly made better choices than in Crowe's remake, but in this film, the whole use of the "Skin disease" throughout made it so blatantly obvious that there was something wrong with the children. Number one, the disease he chose is so rare (only 120 in the US) that one automatically assumes the mother is hiding something, that the children are perhaps ghosts or vampires who don't enjoy sunlight, plus the locking doors behind them adds to the suspicion that the mother actually knows something is up (Which we as the audience are NOT supposed to believe). This ruined the whole film for me due to these meaningless plot points which eventually had nothing to do with it's resolve.

Again, "Sixth Sense" formula makes it's appearance as the "New American Horror Film". If you really want to see a scary ghost story, try to find "THE INNOCENTS" made in 1961, so much better and scarier than any of Hollywood's feeble PG-13 formula films.

Rating:
Summary: I loved It
Review: This was a good movie with surprisses in it. This is better than The 6th Since, considering that I don't even want to take the time spelling it, The commercials of 6th stinch looked dumb. This is a good haughnted house movie, Not as good as Amityville Horror or The Changeling, this one is for those who think during a movie. For those viewers who said this movie wasn't scary, are the ones who think that a scary movie is a guy running around in a mask killing dumb teens who can't act and have very fake looking blood. The Best attempt in modern horror but we still have a long way to go.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and not that surprising of an ending.
Review: Granted, Nicole Kidman isn't as irritating as she usually is--the few good things about the movie. It's not scary or creepy; it's not even suspenseful, and the end is pretty easy to see. The atmosphere is good, but the storyline doesn't pick up on it. Not even half as good as I was told.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Thriller Out There
Review: "The Others" have chilled me to the very bone - I can still remember that. This movie is something that we don't usually see anymore. The world has become obsessed with bloddy violence, gory horror movies and unrealistic sex scenes and nudity. "The Others" has none of these, yet it is scarier than some of the typical horror movies - much scarier. It leaves us with a feeling of suspense.

The story is one of the most original ones I have seen. Neurotic mother of two (Nicole Kidman) is overly protected of her two beloved children who have a deadly allergy to light. They live in a musty dark mansion with doors and windows tightly shut. Their servants disappear and new servants come in their place and that's when the trouble really starts.

I can remember how I felt about this film - no disappointment or boredom. No, the only things I felt was sense of suspense and especially awe, as this is really one of those unique thrillers that dont come out today.

Rating:
Summary: Garbage! Pure garbage!
Review: I should think that Tom Cruise who is credited with being an executive producer and Nicole Kidman who starred in this film would be embarrassed for anyone to see it, but they probably have no shame. This is a dark, dreary, and slow-moving movie filled with hard-to-understand dialog and not much of a story line anyway. Save your money and put your time to better use. It simply boggles my mind that so many reviewers gave it more than one star. If I could have, I'd have put it into the minus column, because I'm angry at myself for watching it all the way through.

Rating:
Summary: suprise ending!
Review: I must say that Nicole Kidman is HOTT in this movie...grrr! Now let's get to the actual review. The movie started off with a couple of twists, but nothing too terribly thrilling. Toward the middle you start realizing certain things...certain things, that are small, but not to be taken lightly. At the end, I was shocked, and you'll be shocked as well...because it doesn't end, how you might think it ends!

...

Rating:
Summary: Good Suspense.. yet somewhat predictable
Review: Nicole Kidman stars in a classic horror noir type film set in 1945, Post-World War Two England. Kidman's character, a devout Christian and housewife, has lost her husband to the war, and now raises her children alone in a massive house on the coast of England. Her children suffer from a rare "light-disorder" which seems to make them brake out into strange boils if exposed to the sunlight. The unexpected arrival of the house's previous servants set in motion an odd sequence of events that unfold to reveal an even more terrifying truth at the film's conclusion. This is a great classic retelling of the haunted house horror genre, unfortunatly one cannot help feeling that this film treads on too familiar ground. Despite that, it still manages to retain some of its originality through an atmosphere that it manages to achieve at its conclusion. A feeling of hope is left in the viewer, an emotion that is almost completly foreign to most horror films. A good film, somewhat predictable in the sense that one can pick out certain events, but no one can predict (Even if they get close) the amazing conclusion.