The Others

Rating:
Summary: A better than expected thriller
Review: After hearing all the hype surrounding The Others I finally decided to give it a look and found it better than what I had expected. Nicole Kidman plays a religious mother living in her large home on the island of Jersey in 1945 with her two children, both of which suffer from a disorder where they blister and turn very sick from being exposed to too much sunlight. When Kidman hires some new servants strange things start going on, and an otherworldly presence is felt. Kidman is great in her role as an overbearing mother who really does love her children, but takes it to a new level. Director/writer Alejandro Amenabar (who wrote and directed Open Your Eyes which would be re-made as Vanilla Sky) effectively uses atmosphere over flashy special effects to achieve a chilling tale of mystery and suspense with a twist ending that seemingly comes from nowhere. All in all, anyone looking for a good thriller should definitely check out The Others.

Rating:
Summary: This movie ...
Review: I don't know what people saw in this movie I really don't. There is not much of a plot, the acting is really boring and there is not one real scare in the entire movie. Nicole Kidman looks good as usual but seems to me she did this one just for the paycheck. Skip this movie and rent something really suspenseful like "The Legend of Hell House". 2 out of 5.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER THAN " SIXTH SENSE " !
Review: Though suspenceful, it lacks some reality.
What do these people feed on(if they do so)?How Kidman pays those servants' wages?And if they themselves are already ghosts, what's that sick old granny clad in her daughter's dress.Those remain to be answered.

Rating:
Summary: Original?
Review: This film is not original. One reviewer said, "An original twist on a familiar theme". How is that possible? The theme is the old "Sixth sense" surprise...Oh, look who's dead, look who's alive! Already done recently so when I saw this film, it totally bored me and when the "surprise" ending came, I was not surprised. My only surprise is how many people think this is a good, original film. Maybe I'm dead as I write this review...

Rating:
Summary: Love scary movies?
Review: Then you'll love this one. I enjoyed it better once I watched the DVD at home so I could backup in case I missed what someone said.
I wasn't a Nicole Kidman fan until this movie. She did a great acting job.
I love surprise endings, so this was REALLY GOOD. I never would have guessed!

Rating:
Summary: Knocked My Socks Off!
Review: I saw this movie on Halloween, expecting to enjoy it but not to be as impressed as I was. Nicole Kidman was wonderful, but so were the other actors, both the children and the woman who played the housekeeper. In fact, much hinges on her performance: Are the servants good? Are they evil? So although Ms. Kidman has been justly praised for her performance, credit is due to the rest of the cast as well.

It's hard to say much about the movie without giving too much away. I found the lack of special effects and gore *very* impressive. It made other horror movies look shabby and uncreative, full of cheap tricks. Here the suspense and fear hinge on your imagination, your identification with the characters, the situations, on all the questions raised, but not yet answered.

The ending is an original twist on a familiar theme. It was so sad it brought tears to my eyes, yet it made for a most unusual happy ending.

I only have one small criticism, which is that I wanted a tiny bit more backstory about the children's photo-sensitivity. It left me with one or two questions I would have liked answered.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect environment
Review: Basically the environment was the element that made this film special. It reminded me of Tim Burton's "sleepy hollow", which takes place in a gothic environment full of thick fog and mystery. It is a fact that although the whole story takes place in a house and although the movie doesn't use a lot of special effects, it succeds in giving the viewer, the sense of a real thriller!! It is one very good film that every horror fan would love to watch...

Rating:
Summary: One of four great movies of the SPECTRE CINEMA
Review: Wanna scare the "bejesus" out yourself, view this film after watching 1944's "The Uninvited (with Ray Milland)," "The Innocents" (with Deborah Kerr) from 1961 and the 1980 George C. Scott-vehicle "The Changeling". This quartet embodies the true measure of a ghost story.
Hey, maybe only great goose bump flicks come every twenty years or so!!!

Rating:
Summary: Moving story about a troubled family
Review: Having read several reviews of this movie it seems that the major criticism is that it's boring. If you are the kind of person who doesn't like to read, doesn't care for symbolism, and likes constant action you may not like this. However, if you like a great story, which takes time to build both the characters and the plot, you should like it.

At the beginning of the movie we learn that the servants of the house have suddenly and inexplicably left and new servants mysteriously show up. Nicole Kidman's character Grace has two children who will die if they are exposed to any sunlight (I was shocked to find that this is a real and incurable disease). Grace is a resentful woman who has lost her husband and is trapped in a large, dark house because of the children's illness. She is a sternly religious woman who dominates her children. She obviously loves them but shows them almost no affection (until the end of the movie). She has a rocky relationship with her daughter, and obviously doesn't believe the child when she tells her about the apparitions she sees. The movie slowly builds to a climax where we learn both who the servants are and who is actually haunting the house. This movie tells two stories. One is about a dysfunctional family, the other is the ghost story.

As a religious person I found the lack of God and the depiction of the afterlife depressing. The movie presents death as simply an eternal extension of life here. Some conservative religious people might find this offensive.

I really enjoyed this movie and have watched it several times. The more you watch it the more you discover. I love 19th century literature and this is what this movie reminded me of. Again, probably not for people who are into action and adventure films. More for people who like a well-developed, intelligent story.

Rating:
Summary: Like THE SIXTH SENSE, but Different.
Review: A young woman at the end of WW II, whose husband was killed in the war, raises two children in a huge house on a foggy island off of England. The children are photosensitive and cannot be in the prescence of light for long. The young woman, Grace, places an ad for domestic help and a trio of mismatched servants arrive on the scene to aid the woman. Strange happenings occur and Grace begins to lose her grip on reality.

THE OTHERS has a wonderful cast who perform superbly. The sets, scenery, sound, lighting, costumes, and effects all add to the eery mood and tone of the film. The film gives just enough information, while keeping enough information hidden to keep the audience guessing to what is going on.

The movie is in many ways like THE SIXTH SENSE. However, THE OTHERS is different from that movie in one major aspect. THE OTHERS makes a point to question the improbability of the Christian faith. This aspect of the film is overlooked by many, but it is there. The one thing that Grace has to comfort her after her husband and servants leave is her faith. She constantly refers to it throughout the film. The film's ending causes not just Grace, but everyone to question what they believe. There is nothing wrong with the questioning, but THE OTHERS does not present anything else as an alternative to what Grace believes. It leaves the viewer feeling as though there is no answers and that there is no God. It is this stealthy, anti-Christian message that prevented me from giving this film 5 stars. Bash a person's faith all you want, but be willing to present your alternative when you do.