Rather Effective

Rating: 7/10 (13 January 2005)

I watched THE OTHERS simply because Christopher Eccleston in it , a future DOCTOR WHO in a scary movie , now this I've got to see , but to be honest Eccleston's role is little more than cameo while the always consistent Nicole Kidman isn't the real star of the movie - It's writer/director Alejandro Amenabar
From the opening shots where the servants arrive at Grace Stewart's house I had the story pegged as to where it was going . Grace is an absolute nutter isn't she ? But then the story twists and turns a little and then I thought she might be a victim , I mean these servants ... But the story keeps twisting along nicely so that the script is one step ahead of the audience . There is a slight problem though if you're familiar to Amenabar's work , especially ABRE LOS OJOS and that is that he's a master of the shock twist ending and I thought with the appearance of Eccleston's Charles Stewart half way through the movie I had the story sussed . I actually did work out how he fitted into the story and was correct in guessing his fate but I never believed in what the twist ending was so well done Senor Amenabar
There is a problem with this type of story and THE OTHERS is no different in that respect - You can only enjoy the movie once since you know the shock twist at the end when you see it a second , third , fourth time and there's another very successful film ( No clues but you'll know the one I'm talking about after you see this ) that has the same idea which means comparison's are inevitable , but it's difficult to compare to one another . Certainly THE OTHERS has a more creepy atmosphere and probably a better pace and cast with special mention going to Alakina Mann as Anna who plays her role as a totally convincing horrid brat , nice to know Amenabar has resisted the temptation to portray the children as sugery sweet little cherubs which is often the case in Hollywood movies , you might not believe this but THE OTHERS in fact is a Spanish film