Creepy, atmospheric horror. The best in ages!

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2001)

First English language directorial effort from Alejandro Amenabar is a great little psychological horror that relies on atmosphere and things that go bump in the night for scares rather than the usual blood and gore (A refreshing change). As such, the quality of shocks and tension on offer has similarities with the original version of 'The Haunting' (rather than the inferior Catherine Zeta Jones remake.)
Nicole Kidman is Grace who lives in a mansion in the middle of now where with her two children who suffer from a rare photosensitive skin allergy which means the house has to be kept in near darkness most of the time. When three new servants appear out of the fog one day saying they have answered an advertisement. But did they? Things take a turn for the weird when one of the children starts seeing ghostly figures in the house, doors close on their own and pianos start playing themselves.
The tension is cranked up slowly and the fact that this is a house where the curtains are closed all the time adds to the atmosphere. Kidman is excellent, as are the two children, plus you get Eric Sykes as one of the servants (fantastic!)
A well deserved 8/10