The Others

Amen, brother!

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Watched this by myself in a dark room at one last night. I've got to agree with you about the atmosphere; I was seriously spooked the entire time.

For some reason, the big twists didn't shock me at all. I was surprised, sure, but there were no mind-blowing moments of realization like in, say, "The Sixth Sense".

I also found it funny that after the whole thing was over, there had not been a single major scare, just a whole lot of buildup.

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No scare?

I'm easily jumped, but the scene is the closet with the old lady was quite a big jump.

Its got maybe 3 jumps, that are slowly built up to. No trying to milk the audience out of a few more shouts, its one of the most perfect haunted house movies.

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The closet scene startled me, as did the the scene at the door to the piano room, and scene with the curtains in the children's room. But they startled me, not scared me. Maybe it was because it was late or because I was kind of expecting bigger scares.

In any case, I prefer the all buildup method to the have-ten-million-things-jump-out-and-say-boo method. They're both scary, but with buildup, the fear lingers and isn't easily gotten rid of.

In any case, if there is any one particularly frightening aspect of this movie, it would have to be the end, which I interpreted as suggesting that there is no God, no controlling force, no order, just a sort of lonely eternal existence.

Didn't remind me of the "Sixth Sense" at all.

Wonderful film. Our lamenting about modern actresses not having the same style as the actresses of yore doesn't apply to Nicole Kidman.

Spoilers for ten year old movie...

 

Saw this for the first time. Somehow I managed to make it a decade without being spoiled on the twists, but this was an effective little thriller.

 

From the beginning it was quite obvious that something was amiss. I've read too much Beckett to not realize when the world outside the immediate stage doesn't exist, and the talk of limbo was obvious foreshadowing. Even with that awareness I was along for the ride, and the servants had an eerie air of knowing about them that draws the viewer in. 

 

Alejandro Amenabar, director of Open Your Eyes (which I unfortunately have not seen, although I did see the ironically starring ex-husband of Nicole Kidman Vanilla Sky) knows how to build atmosphere and tension through tight pacing. With it being obvious that there's a twist somewhere down the line, it's the filmmaker's job to misdirect the audience. This film does a good job of making Nicole Kidman's character appear unhinged from the get go, coming across as the antagonist, then switches gears to the daughter and then to the servants. By the time the twist is revealed that they were dead along it's been obvious for a while, but what's unique is the nature of their deaths. The revelation that Kidman killed the children is handled well, and still the film manages to evoke sympathy for the character and even lends her a degree of helpless nobility with her stubbornness to leave the house.

 

The actors are all top notch. Kidman is asked to put forth the British stiff upper lip, but she has moments of incredible fragility. Usually I'm not a fan of the actress (sometimes she comes across as...not quite human), but her cold distance and alienating eyes actually lent weight to this role. The children are both great, I especially liked Alakina Mann as the little girl Anne. She has a mischievous manner to her but also a strong intelligence, and has a few great moments of "it's not fair!" face. 

 

The house alone is half the battle. I don't know where they found that place, but it is suitably creepy and the fog and the implications of the fog add a haunting beauty to the whole spectacle. Beautifully shot, well acted, and although the plot is obviously choreographed at times the execution adds new layers to a familiar story. 

I remember being entirely let down by the twist. I didn't like the basic concept that every scare in the entire film is all part of the misdirection, that in the end nothing menacing was actually going down. It had some great atmosphere as I recall, and I've not seen it in many years so perhaps I need to go back and reexamine it, but I've always felt the movie fumbled the ending

I only watched it once, but I enjoyed it. It doesn't have a lot of scares, but the entire movie is creepy.

 

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  I like the twist, and that the movie had a weirdly happy ending. Even though they were dead, they still had each other. Also the kids could finally play in the sun.