A Masterpiece that could sit with Horror classics like The Exorcist and Halloween

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2009)

The Others is without a doubt one of the few epic classic-feel Ghost Stories of the decade, and perhaps the only great ghost story in recent years. Alejandro Amenábar's direction is superb. He directs with great confidence, majestically structures every scene, and thanks to the cinematographer, creates a truly suspenseful thriller. His screenplay is also brilliant, captivating in all of those classic mansion stories, and giving a lot to play with. But he also does what none of the new thrillers do- give his characters passion and feel. Nicole Kidman gives a brilliant performance here, her best work of the new century. She gives her character sophistication, but her character is also flawed and sometimes not too likable, and she plays it brilliantly. The two child performances are also captivating, especially James Bentley. The whole cast is superb, making this film grander and more epic than I would have thought. The music is amazing. Kind of like the classic music from old horror films. The ending actually surprised me, which is rare, and because I was not sure how many ways it could have ended. The Others could easily have been done in the 70's, and I actually preferred it to the classic The Exorcist (which I really do not like all that much). Bravo to The Others, for that rare thriller, but again, it was made in 2001, which was actually quite some time ago.