It's not often that a movie gets it right

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2002)

This is an elegant haunted house movie in its purest, most classic form. It relies solely on atmosphere, creepy music and sense of foreboding, without ever resorting to those cheap and overused "jolts" that pops up from the side of the frame to scare us. The script is well-written and in certain cases it makes you think. I recommend watching this movie without any preconceptions of any kind, otherwise it might ruin the experience and surprises.
I must point out that after reading several of the critics' reviews, I cannot understand those who claim that the movie is too slow. Why? Have they been so desensitized by movies with big explosions and CGI graphics that they cannot envelope themselves in a movie's atmosphere without a guiding hand? The comparison of this movie with The Sixth Sense is well deserved, and this I believe says a lot about its quality. Every frame and moment are filled with a thick atmosphere that never lets up, and the answer always seems out of reach until the very end. Interesting and hard questions are also being raised about our perceptions of the supernatural as well as religion, and the movie handled these issues very well with overlaying subtleness. I have to say that the movie is also nicely cast, the two kids are great and convincing without any hint of cliched sentimentalism about them. Nicole Kidman did a good job, she got better throughout the movie and in one scene looked positively ravishing.
After seeing several of those special effects-laden haunted house flicks such as the remakes of the Haunting and House on the Haunted Hill, I was so sure that nobody understands how to do this particular genre justice anymore, and that we'll just have to resort to its teen-lite version such as Scream. Well thankfully The Others proved that with the right approach and thought, substance and style always go well hand-in-hand. If you enjoyed rewarding and intelligent thrillers like The Sixth Sense, then this movie is for you.