I generally don’t watch horror movies outside of the month of October, but a breakroom discussion with a friend, coinciding with my cable box getting fried, brought about a viewing of the 2001 suspense thriller, “The Others.”
Set in a colossal and fog-enshrouded mansion in the British Isles in the immediate aftermath of World War 2, “The Others” stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Stewart, an overly religious and mildly disturbed mother of 2 young and quite creepy children, Anne and Nicholas. At the onset of the film, Grace is in the process of interviewing 3 new housekeepers; a nanny named Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan) an old gardener named Edmund Tuttle (Eric Sykes) and a young mute girl named Lydia (Elaine Cassidy) who hasn’t spoken since “she found out.” The 3 new housekeepers are needed to replace the previous ones who are said to have mysteriously disappeared one day.
Grace gives the housekeepers a tour of the estate whilst explaining a set of quirky and ominous rules they must adhere too; the curtains must always be kept closed as the children suffer from xeroderma pigmentosa (an allergy to sunlight). The giant house contains some 50 doors and no door is to be opened without the previous one being closed and locked. Grace explains this is to prevent the children from entering a room in which the curtains have been left open. Finally, the children must not play with the antique piano. The tour concludes with the introduction of the children.
As the story progresses, strange events continue to occur in the mansion. Mysterious voices are heard, with Anne arguing with her
mother that the house is not only haunted, but that she has conversed with the ghost of a young boy named Victor, Victor’s parents, and a frightening old woman with no eyes. The piano is heard playing on its own. Locked doors are found open. Grace’s husband Charles (Christopher Eccleston) who has not been heard from in nearly 2 years after going off to war to fight the Germans, mysteriously shows up in the dense fog surrounding the mansion, seemingly to reunite with his family though his presence is cast in a shadow of mystery by his aloof and unaware state of being.
When Grace herself has an interaction with the others in the house herself, she begins a frantic search of the truth behind their presence – and to reclaim her house.
‘The Others” manages to blend elements of suspense, thriller, and horror without going overboard in any one area. You’ll have goose bumps throughout and a handful of parts will make you jump – but not so often as to define the film traditional horror. Nicole Kidman turns out an award worthy performance and the setting inside the eerie mansion provides the perfect backdrop.
A perfect warm-up for the upcoming Horror season.
– by Matt Christopher
