Another movie completely reliant on "twist" for validation

Rating: 7/10 (2 September 2001)

SPOILER ALERT!
Okay, I kinda liked it. True, it was slow but it was interesting. Note, however, while interesting, it was not even remotely scary...at all. And believe me, I did what I could to talk myself into being scared but to no avail. I did, however, jump once when a door slammed. GEE! Had to admire the restraint that characterized the movie (in comparison with many of the other contemporary horror/thrillers) but might've hoped for a little more of "the good stuff."
Kinda liked the theme that life is a little more complex than we think and will continue to defy our little systems of thought with which we try to pin it down. I also liked the fact that the message was given gently. Grace's religion and parental stringency were shown sympathetically. Nevertheless, while useful and helpful we saw that they were inadequate to explain EVERYTHING.
Once again, this movie (like many others) was completely reliant on its "twist ending" to validate it. I really don't like that. A good twist should deepen things and give you that little "more than you bargained for" bonus. When it becomes the only point of the film, it ceases to function as it was intended. This is especially so with "The Others". The two twists: a) Omigosh, the cleaning crew are really ghosts! and b) Omigosh, the family is really ghosts! were pretty lame. Perhaps had they beaten "Sixth Sense" to the screen they might've worked but THEY DIDN'T. The only reason I hadn't already figured it all out as I watched was because I thought, "No, they wouldn't be that dumb." They were though.
Okay, finally, in order to end positively, I'll say this: The post-mortem photos were great. Having already read about these in Clive Barker's A-Zs of Horror I thought their film treatment was appropriately eerie. As Grace said, "How macabre."
So, in summation, I'm glad I saw it but I will probably never watch it again.