Best Ghost Story in Years

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2001)

My wife and I went to see "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and produced by her ex, Tom Cruise. Upfront I'll say that my wife has never seen the same movie twice. Once she's seen one, that's it, while I'm the type that watches my favorites over and over again when I have the time. SHE wants to go see "The Others" again next weekend. If you haven't seen it, please do. It is hands down the best ghost story we've ever seen. It was made, not in the hacker/slasher style, but in the best tradition of the spooky, suspenseful films of old, the ones that keep raising goosebumps and have people gasping and sitting right up on the edge of their seats. There is zero actual violence. Remember "Poltergeist"? It SEEMED like everyone was going to be killed all through it, but nobody ever was. There is no gore at all, no foul language that I can remember, but it's just plain SCARY with a twist ending that will knock your socks off. Nicole Kidman plays a young British mother of two, right near the end of WW2, whose husband had gone off to war and is missing and presumed dead. When her servants inexplicably disappear, she is left in this rather large house on one of the Channel Islands always shrouded in fog. Her children are afflicted with a condition that makes them allergic to the sun's rays, so she must keep the drapes always closed in any rooms that they are in. She tutors them herself in both academic and religious studies. After advertising for domestic help, three people show up to apply for the jobs. Then it starts to get weird. And I'm not gonna tell ya any more! If you appreciate a good ghost story, you'll love this one. Guaranteed. It's one of the few that is worth ponying up the $8 to see in the theater. GO NOW! *****/*****