A Really Good Film, But I Think It Loses Something Along the Way

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2007)

A woman and her two children live in a large house, waiting for the father to return. A maid, a gardener and a nanny arrive to help take care of the large house. But some others arrive, too -- a group that believe the house if rightfully theirs. This house is haunted! Nicole Kidman stars. Tom Cruise produces. It's tough to say how much of this film is due to their involvement and how much is due to just being a good movie. Certainly the success and nominations came from Kidman appearing (any other actress and this film would have faded into quick obscurity). But it's still artsy and I like that about the movie.
I really can't talk about this film because there's twists and I want to mention them to really give a good overview. I knew about the twists when I sat down to watch this, which I think took something out of the film for me. Which leads me to think this film would not be half as good on a second or third viewing. My colleague in the movie review business, The Butcher, listed this as a must-see horror film. And it ranks at the bottom of the Internet Movie Database's Top 50 horror films, which is still respectable. I guess I don't think it's as good as they make it out to be.
The "horror" elements are pretty much just thumps, bumps and people who might be ghosts that we don't really ever see (they always leave the room before the camera enters). So, it's not a scary film. The house and costumes are beautiful, for what that's worth... but not scary.
Go ahead and watch this one. I think it's more a drama than horror, but that's not a reason not to watch it, I suppose. Strong acting everywhere, and the kids are fun if for no other reason than they have interesting accents. I suspect they'll never get another acting job again (especially the boy). Not one of my favorites, but good nonetheless.