The Other
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Movie Reviews of The Other
Movie Review: My Brother/Myself
Summary: 4 Stars
Just as it was for so many other American film genres, the Seventies were a kind of renaissance period for horror movies, and saw some of the most genuinely creepy films ever made, some of them quite bloody, and others more elegantly scary. This 1972 Robert Mulligan film falls into the latter category, and makes superb work of a heady rural Connecticut summer atmosphere as a backdrop for the story. As the film begins we have trouble figuring out the relations of the extended Perry family living together on a large farm: there is the married daughter Torrie, Aunt Vee and her horrible tattletale child Russell, and fragile shut-in Alexandra (Diana Muldaur). And there is also Alexandra's mother, the Russian immigrant Ada (Uta Hagen, in a rare film appearance), and Alexandra's twin sons Niles and Holland (Martin and Chris Udvarnoky). Gradually we begin to realize something is not quite right with the mischief-making twins, and that the elder, Holland, is genuinely malicious, and given to playing mysterious deadly pranks. Part of the film's most genuinely disturbing qualities are that we never feel we quite get the full story on the ambiguous relationship between Holland and Niles--or what it fully has to do with the strange "great game" Ada has taught Niles to play. While some of the film's effects are a bit cheesy, many are genuinely horrific, and work very well on the imagination by not showing everything (the eventually revealed whereabouts of Torrie's missing baby being the most famous). Mulligan has a genuine gift for recreating a fly-buzzed, dreamy atmosphere of a Depression-era New England summer that seems to work with the film's horrors in remarkable ways. Much depends on the film's casting, and though Hagen is not as believable as you'd like, the Udvarnoky twins are wonderfully effective, seeming alternately sweet and repulsive as the plot demands; as with his TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD a decade earlier, Mulligan again shows his real feel for working with child actors. The beautiful Muldaur, more often seen as a television actress, also has one of her rare compelling roles for film as the twins' fragile and haunted mother.Movie Review: Seriously skewed life in the 30s
Summary: 4 Stars
In rural Connecticut in the 1930s is the Perry family, hit by tragedy--the father's dead from an accident and the mother is recovering (or maybe not) from mental illness. Niles and Holland Perry, twins, are the two younger sons of the family, both somewhere around 10 or 11 years of age.
Niles is the good one; Holland is his opposite. Also part of the family is Ada, the Russian grandmother of the two boys, who looks after them with great care and with a special gift as well--the "game", in which she teaches them to project themselves into the mind's eye of another being. We first see Niles playing the game with a crow; he sees what the crow sees when the bird is flying high over the surrounding town.
As it happens, playing the "game" is strongly tied to the tragic events that ensue during the course of the film in which several people die. But how this happens is ultimately a huge surprise (which won't be revealed here). On hand here is Diana Muldaur as the suffering mother, Uta Hagen in what should have been an Academy Award-winning role as Ada, and John Ritter in an early role as the Perry older son who has married and is awaiting the birth of his first child.
The look and feel of the times are recreated quite well; director Robert Mulligan has done an excellent job in his delivery of a script by Tom Tryon, the author of the novel on which the film was based. There's a kind of no-frills style on display here which serves the film well; we see the characters, often up close, involved in each other's lives in a way that rings true for that era. Personal relationships are the key to the tragedy and the terror that is this film.
A real chestnut worth seeing if not owning, The Other is a great example of non-stylized film that holds up extremely well after more than 30 years. See it.
Movie Review: A real barn burner
Summary: 4 Stars
Niles and Holland Perry are seemingly about as different as night and day, but they are also inseparable. They play together all the time, get into mischief together and share secrets. It appears the two have some pretty dark secrets. Based on a novel by Tom Tryon, this film takes its time setting the mood and introducing its horrific themes. In ways it plays like a nostalgic trip down childhood memory lane, with buying fresh vegetables from a traveling farm market, stealing cookies from the oven and spending lazy afternoons fishing in the local pond. Director Robert Mulligan brings much of the natural, rural feel to "The Other" that he brought to some of his other movies, such as "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Man In the Moon." With it, he lulls into a sense of comfort and complacency that belies the evil that lurks nearby. This really is a masterfully crafted movie and, although I have not read the novel, I can say the story unfolds much the way a book does. My only gripe would be the performance of the boy who plays Niles, Chris Udvarnoky. I realize he is supposed to be a nice, polite kid, but he is so over the top I could barely stand to watch. Not only is he saccharine sweet, but he occasionally gets his intonation all wrong, as though reading from a book. He was only about ten when he made the movie, so I must cut him some slack. I just thought Mr. Mulligan might coax a really good performance from his child actors the way he did in the two aforementioned films. Despite this, "The Other" is a very good film and the DVD, though lacking any bonus material, does have a very clean picture.Movie Review: Creepy suspense thriller--don't read the copy on the back of the cover if you haven't seen this as it contains spoilers!
Summary: 4 Stars
Twin brothers Niles and Holland get into the usual trouble kids do on their Connecticut farm except that a number of unusual "accidents" begin to happen to the adults around Niles and Holland.
This variation on "The Bad Seed" involving twins is a top notch character study, psychological suspense thriller and atmospheric chiller directred by Robert Mulligan. Based on the late actor/writer Thomas Tryon's novel of the same name "The Other" is subtle where most films of this type would hammer home the plot points. Well written, directed and acted the film continues to generate chills. Sadly actors Chris and Martin Udvarnoky never made another film after this one which is too bad as both child actors give great performances. Kudos also to Diana Muldaur and Uta Hagen who play their mother and grandmother respectively.
The Fox release ia puzzling--if you read the copy on the back of the box it gives away major plot points prior to watching the film. The film is more enjoyable if the audience actually discovers what's happening on their own. The cover artwork is quite evocative but also gives too much information. My suggestion is if you haven't seen this atmospheric thriller don't read the synopsis of the film.
Fox has done a nice job in transferring the film it looks pretty good although the images are occasionally a bit soft (sometimes intentionally other times not). We get the original theatrical trailer and trailers for other Fox titles as extras. It's a pity that Diana Muldaur wasn't contacted to do a commentary track for the film.
Movie Review: A very strange psychological horror movie set in 1935 America
Summary: 4 Stars
I won't go into the plot. Read other reviews for that. I'll just say that this movie features identical twin brothers and mysterious accidents that occur on a farm. Just some thoughts...
The Other (1972) to me is a very strange psychological horror movie. This is one of those movies that keeps you guessing and has a lot of twists and turns. It takes place in rural Connecticut in 1935. The movie is very slow moving, especially for the first 50 minutes or so. When watching this movie I felt as though I was watching The Waltons with a little bit of Little House On The Prairie sprinkled in, but with a twist of horror. Probably 95% of the movie takes place during daylight hours. Most of the time it doesn't even feel like a horror movie, but the second half of the movie injects a horror element.
The musical score is by Jerry Goldsmith. The music is mostly upbeat throughout the movie and would fit right into an episode of The Waltons or Little House On The Prairie. A very young John Ritter has a very small role in this movie. The ending of the movie is pretty twisted.
The DVD transfer looks great. Clear picture and sound.
If you can get into a very different type of horror movie such as this, then I recommend it.