Good, but not great, ghost flick

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2004)

I first learned of The Others when I saw a trailer for this movie when I went to the theater to see Scary Movie 2 in summer 2001. I have long been interested in the supernatural and ghosts/haunted places so I was pumped up for the release of The Others.
However, I must say that the trailer for the others gives the false impression that the film is much scarier than it actually is. I asked two females to go to the theater with me to see it, and both declined on the grounds that the movie just seemed to scary for them. I watched it alone in the theater, and overall I think it was a pretty good movie - it just didn't deliver the bone-chilling terror that the trailer leads you into believing.
The positives about The Others include Nicole Kidman, who gives a good performance as a strong-willed and over-bearing, religious mother, the setting (a Gothic mansion in the dense fog of the English countryside), and the ending - which caught me off guard and really made me think about this life and the afterlife for several days afterwards. All in all, I think this movie was designed to critique religious doctrine or to make people question their own beliefs about religion and the afterlife.
There are a few decent scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat. One in particular made me jump out my seat in the theater - when Ann and Nicholas open the closet door and...well, if you've seen the movie you know exactly which scene I am referring to.
Overall it's not a bad film to watch if you are interested in gaining a new perspective on the afterlife, ghosts, or spirits. It's a good film, but not great - not enough scares or terror is present. I would give it 7.5 stars out of 10.