Spooky

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2012)

Ghost stories come in all shapes and sizes and The Others, for a while, seems to be a pretty ordinarily shaped ghost story, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, a devoutly Christian woman who lives in a large country house with her two children who have a disease that makes them react terribly to sunlight. At the beginning of the film Grace hires three new servants to help her around the house, as it is only her and the children because their father is off fighting in World War II. As soon as these new servants come into the house strange things start happening and suspicions arise that the house may be haunted. Clever spookiness ensues in a film that doesn't phone it in on cheap thrills, but rather builds a slow crawling suspense throughout the film.
It's always a blessing to watch a film like this. It's one that manages to be spooky and suspenseful, but it's also high quality entertainment. It's a beautifully shot film that uses lighting wonderfully to amp up the chills. One of the major plot points is the children being basically allergic to sunlight. Because of this they can't travel alone through the house. Any room they go into or just pass through has to be darkened. This calls for the constant closing of shutters and drapes that gives the whole house a dreary and depressing ambiance which makes the whole bleak mood of the film all the greater. There is no room for joy or happiness in this story, and the way the ominous story and dim cinematography come together is excellent, and it's what makes this film so utterly creepy.
For a long while The Others is fairly straightforward, but also intriguing and unique. It helps knowing that the film is a well rated film by fans and critics because throughout the slow building suspense you know that there will certainly be some sort of great pay off in the end. And there is. What seems like your run of the mill ghost story has a great catch to it that rounds the film off as an awesomely surprising story. This is a great film for any fan of suspense thrillers. It's not painfully terrifying, but just spooky enough to make you shudder the next time you walk through a dark room.