The masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2013)

After "Rosemary baby" this movie to me ranks second in the excellence of storytelling, acting, directing, mood, suspense and terrific twist at the end. As a lover of horrors I know how difficult it is to do a good thriller, and as a matter of fact despite my love of the genre, there are only a few good ones I had actually seen in my long life. It shows you how difficult it is to do it well. Therefore I am still on the quest for masterpieces such as above movie. I was absolutely impressed and just wish that Alejandro Amenabar would do another horror as sophisticated as this one. And acting should also be mentioned as superb. Nicole Kidman of whom I am not a special fan,is to my surprise excellent in her portrayal of deeply depressed, psychotic wife; Fionnula Flanagan - fantastic actress with amazing voice and presence, and two other actors also splendid - the producers couldn't choose better players. And children were also great compared with typical Hollywood annoying kids who speak like adults and behave in the most artificial, phony manner. Please, watch this movie. It is not just your plain horror taking place in a spooky house but psychological drama about religion, motherhood and mortality. And dear Mr. Amemabar - make another horror. There are excellent stories written in Victorian times. Take one and show young viewers something besides vampires and zombies.