A mini masterpiece from a new director to watch

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2004)

Just after the end of world War II, a woman and her two photosensitive children live in an old isolated house in Jersey. However strange happenings start to occur after her servants quit in the middle of the night without warning.
Amenabar wrote the script, directed the film and even wrote the music score too and I tell you what - he does a great job in all departments! He may speak English as a second language, but I couldn't tell from the use of language. Indeed he not only knows English, but also period English and slang!
This uses light so sparingly that we get dragged in to this strange candle lit world of locked doors and drapes. What a smart and curious device that creates shadows and in intrigue in every corner - like a permanent night. There is no gore, but despite this it gives you the creeps and has many jumps and frights. I don't care how much you turn up the central heating you will feel cold watching this movie.
Good performances all round here and Kidman just gets better and better. She should have been nominated for an Oscar for this. How strange to see Eric Sykes as the gardener with a secret. No English director would have cast him because he is a vet of English TV comedy and not serious cinema.
This is not a big enough or original enough a piece to give the title classic, but it does what it sets out to do with style and then some. This is as good as Hitchcock and Kubrick when not hitting their absolute peaks. Think of The Birds and The Shinning and you get the general idea.
When you think about it, it manages to do everything with a manor house, a small set of actors and a fog machine. No CGI, no stunt men and no blood. We will know a lot more when the director takes on his next piece, but let us hope he is as good as he appears to be here.