M.R. James, Finally Done Justice in Film

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2003)

Excellent ghost story set at the close of the Second World War about a widowed mother, and her 2 children living on a huge, classically creepy estate. Things begin to go astray when a mysterious trio of servants moves in. Wow, pleasantly surprised at the reaction on the board to this, I expected people to hate it. Thought I was one of the few who still appreciated gothic horror. Of the spawn of The Sixth Sense, you have the abysmal Dragonfly on the one end, this, The Others, at the opposite. Might even be better than The Sixth Sense for sheer creepiness. It lacks the gore, and obsequious visual shock of TSS, but more so than TSS, sticks to the original game plan; to frighten us. I have found, the fright element in TSS by the end of the film is all but beaten out of it, as it becomes more of a human drama piece. Not so here. The Others is a more narrow ranged, and I mean that positively, exercise in good old-fashioned atmospheric horror. It builds slowly and brings you closer and closer to a very effective, and frightening climax. It relies heavily upon scenery, weather, lighting, costume...all of the old forgotten tools. Most if not all of the fear is implied, and left for your imagination to fill in the blanks. I like that. This honestly could have been rated G, and the only reason, I'm sure it wasn't simply an attempt to spare it doom at the box office, is that film is just too frightening for kids. Highly recommended.