The Other
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Movie Reviews of The Other
Movie Review: Blown away by both the book and the movie
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first read the book in 1972, I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I finished it, I didn't think it could be made into a movie. Boy was I wrong. Circa 1992, I came across the book again in a flea market. I had to buy it and re-read it. Since then I have seen the movie twice more. I don't know if it got any Oscar nods but it should have.Movie Review: DON'T READ the DVD back-cover!
Summary: 5 Stars
Can you believe the liner notes on the back of the DVD case GIVE AWAY the key element of the shocking ending? DON'T READ it if you have not seen the film before!
How stupid can they be?
Movie Review: scary movie
Summary: 5 Stars
this is a very good movie. keeps you guessing all the way to the end. great movie.a must have.. about a very disturbed little boy.Movie Review: If you've seen it once: it will never leave you
Summary: 4 Stars
Interesting suspense film along the lines of movies like "The Bad Seed", this effective little shocker that evolved from the early 1970s is surprisingly a good movie. I wasn't expecting much from it, and the cover of the DVD led me to believe it was something along the lines of "The Omen", but I was pleasantly surprised with how the film turned out. It's an effective little horror movie with plenty of twists and turns, a clever script, and some pretty good acting. Set in an unnamed American farming township in 1935, the story revolves around eleven-year-old Niles Perry and his identical twin brother Holland. Portrayed by can't-tell-'em-apart twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, Niles and Holland are part of an extended family whose matriarch is Ada (legendary German actress Uta Hagen). The boys' father is dead, and their mother (Diana Muldaur) spends most of her screen time traipsing dourly about the homestead.
From the get-go, Niles is obviously the well-behaved one of the two, as well as the 'follower' in their relationship. Holland resorts to various mischief, often landing his twin into trouble in his stead. There's some sort of family heirloom in a clandestine tobacco tin which Holland has apparently relinquished to Niles, who doesn't seem to want it. A traveling circus comes to the area, featuring a sleight-of-hand magician who inspires the boys. Ada is a wisened old Russian immigrant, and she shares a special bond with Niles which seems to be clairvoyant in nature. When the twins' mother is paralyzed in a tragic fall after confronting them about the mysterious heirloom, Ada realizes that she must set right a great evil which she had unknowingly set off some time before. And although Holland appears to be at the center of the misdeeds afoot here, Niles must confront his own participation in the events which have shaped the present scenario.
The murderous "accidents" telegraphed in "The Other" are few and bloodless. This is not a graphic film by any means. But it is certainly horrific, at least during the second act. Once again, you'll find yourself musing, "Wait....this is rated PG ?!?" I my respects to the late Victor French (known more affectionately to TV audiences as Mr. Edwards on "Little House On The Prairie") as a crazed farm-hand who figures in strongly during the blood-freezing finale. You may also recognize a young John Ritter who makes a couple small and modest appearances through out the film. The real-life twins are excellent in this film. It's really a shame that this was their only film.
The term "psychological thriller" was coined a long time ago, probably by some filmmaker who wanted a more dignified label for the horror flick he was shooting at the time. "The Other" is all of the above. It plumbs the depths of psychological dysfunction and murderous illusion while convincingly illustrating the look and the lay of 1935 Americana, much like Mulligan's job on "Mockingbird" ten years prior. It snares, ingratiates, rivets, shocks and then horrifies you. And it got a PG. Only in 1972, I guess....
Movie Review: That harmless-looking dear, may be the one to fear...
Summary: 4 Stars
[This review contains 'spoilers']
Set in rural, provencial New England in the early 20th century, The Other is one of those "evil child" films in which a veritable "evil twin" scenario unfolds when one of the two Perry brothers perishes at the bottom of a well. The very apparent subconscious ghost of 'Holland' takes root in Niles' schizophrenic mind, wherein he deals with his grief by externalizing his dead brother as a mischievous split personality influence, thus committing various gruesome murders. To Niles, his brother is very real in his subjective reality, with all the blame transferred onto him, the "other". A definite mental dissociation.
One by one, the country folk in this small township begin experiencing a series of mysterious deaths, with no one the wiser that it could possibly be this very clever innocent-looking child, and thus, the events continue to unfold.
Victims include his very own parents, an obnoxious whining playmate, a musical old lady, and perhaps most disturbingly, even a new-born baby: Dad "trips" and falls into the barn cellar; after discovering and confiscating a secret item, Mom tumbles down a flight of stairs but survives with paralysis; a tattle-telling boy is impaled on a conveniently-placed pitchfork while jumping into a hay bale playing "King of The Mountain", even though he was forbidden to romp therein; Mrs. Rowe is quite literally frightened to death {her phobia is exploited}; probably feeling all the attention he craved was being diverted, the new-born baby goes missing one stormy night only to meet a tragic fate, while shifting the blame onto a local farmhand. In each case, it became an exaggerated matter of revenge wherein his 'evil twin' felt justified to finalize.
Throughout the film, Niles is counselled by the wise and kind Ada about his special gifts, a gypsy-grandmother type who teaches him to practice mental projection via visualization, wherein he travels into the perspective of a raven, flying forth across the land wherein he actually prognosticates the demise of the pestiferous boy. Learning of his nefarious 'Holland' alter-ego, she tries to provide grounding through asserting his death by admonishing him to 'view' his brother at the grave in the coffin, but it proves too much for his mind's eye, and so she assents. She eventually learns the extent of his deeds, blames herself, and thereby takes it upon herself to rid the town of them both.
Besides the deaths, other notable scenes include a trip to the carnival, wherein he witnesses various 'freaks', and the shenanigans of an illusionist 'disappearing' for the crowd.
For a horror movie, the film uses atypical wholesome-like common-day settings as a stage, instead of standard nightmarish props, effects, characters, or environments, seemingly stating that the likelihood of such occurrences could unexpectedly happen any where at any time, even in the most day-lit or misperceived 'safe' circumstances. The Other also features a marvelous score by the extraordinary Jerry Goldsmith.