DAY EIGHTEEN – THE OTHERS (2001)
This film is such a joy to watch, and absolutely terrifying.
This is probably my third or fourth time seeing it and I still jumped a few
times. It’s a perfect gothic horror film complete with haunted mansion and a
lot of fog. It’s a Spanish-american horror film written, directed, and scored
by Alejandro Amenabar starring Nicole Kidman.
It’s hard to talk about this film’s story without destroying
any of the illusion of what it’s really about. So I will say very strongly
SPOILERS ahead. If you haven’t seen this film, stop reading right now.
Seriously. You don’t want this amazing twist ending spoiled for you.
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The Others tells the story of a very religious mother taking
care of her two sickly kids (they’re allergic to the sun) in a giant, run down
mansion. Although the war has just ended, her husband has not returned home.
Three housekeepers show up after her own housekeepers mysteriously disappeared
and help her take care of the home.
The film is wonderfully creepy. Because of the children’s
sickness, there can be no light in the rooms they’re in. So the family move
from room to room only using the light of a lamp. They also make sure one door
is closed before the other is opened to ensure there is no light at all seeping
through.
The kids are a joy to watch – both extremely talented. They
play off as creepy sometimes, but also loving, sheltered and innocent. Nicole Kidman does a wonderful job of playing the haunted and slightly manic mother who
depends on her religious beliefs to get her family through their days.
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We are lead to believe the house is haunted after very
creepy things start happening, but then we are lead to believe that in fact
there are intruders hiding in the house. Then the housekeepers begin to get
very creepy and soon we realize they are in fact dead, and have been so for a
century. But…one more final twist…the mother and her children are also in fact
dead. The ghostly things happening are in fact the real alive owners of the
house.
It’s a wonderful twist that I never saw coming, and honestly
took my breath away. Re-watching it I obviously knew the twist ending so I
focused mostly on how the movie actually tells you what will happen. The lead
housekeeper makes many comments that should make you think, and when the
children are sleeping, they look dead. But I just never caught that stuff the
first time around because I was so immersed in the story.
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The scenery is stunningly beautiful, it’s a ghost story for
the ages. I love this film to death and it is really so terrifying. There are
so many jump moments that just completely catch you off guard. It’s just so
immersive and haunting. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone, especially gothic
horror fans. 10/10
Guys, that "cheese" "pizza" I ate was awful. It tasted like rubber and the cheeto powder at the bottom of a bag of cheetos. I'm so sad. I miss pizza. BUT I did get an awesome alien shirt in the mail today:
And the new Star Wars trailer comes out tonight, plus tickets go on sale for the movie. So could be worse. See you nerds back here tomorrow!
Stay Spooky!
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