Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3521 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-23
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A welcome throwback to the spooky traditions of Jack Clayton's The Innocents and Robert Wise's The Haunting, Alejandro Amenábar's The Others favours atmosphere, sound, and suggestion over flashy special effects. Set in 1945 on a fog-enshrouded island off the British coast, the film begins with a scream as Grace (Nicole Kidman) awakens from some unspoken horror, perhaps arising from her religiously overprotective concern for her young children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). The children are hypersensitive to light and have lived in a musty manor with curtains and shutters perpetually drawn. With Grace's husband (Christopher Eccleston) presumably lost at war, this ominous setting perfectly accommodates a sense of dreaded expectation, escalating when three strangers arrive in response to Grace's yet-unposted request for domestic help. Led by housekeeper Mrs Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), this mysterious trio is as closely tied to the house's history as Grace's family is--as are the past occupants seen posthumously in a long-forgotten photo album. With her justly acclaimed performance, Kidman maintains an emotional intensity that fuels the film's supernatural underpinnings. And while Amenábar's pacing is deliberately slow, it befits the tone of penetrating anxiety, leading to a twist that extends the story's reach from beyond the grave. Amenábar unveiled a similarly effective twist in his Spanish thriller Open Your Eyes (remade by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky), but where that film drew debate, The Others is finely crafted to provoke well-earned goose bumps and chills down the spine. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Video Description
DVD Special Features:

Full audio commentary from the director

Two Featurettes: "Inside The Others and behind the scenes" and "Visual Effects

Director's interview

Special feature on Xeroderma Pigmentosum

Synopsis
THE OTHERS begins with a close-up of a woman screaming. By the time this intense film ends, everyone watching it will be screaming and gasping. Nicole Kidman stars as Grace, a woman raising two children by herself in a creepy mansion. World War II is over, but Grace's husband never returned. Meanwhile, the two children, Anne and Nicholas, must constantly stay in the dark because they are deathly allergic to light. Then one day, three people show up to take over for Grace's disappeared staff, and trouble starts to brew. The odd trio--an aging nanny, an elderly gardener, and a young mute girl--seems to have a slightly different agenda than Grace and the children do. But when Anne starts talking to strange, unseen people, the scares start building to an incredible climax.
Alejandro Amenabar's highly stylized English-language debut is one of the finest films in the haunted-house genre. Not only did Amenabar write and direct the film but he composed the eerie music as well. Kidman is outstanding as the overprotective mother trying to save her children, while Fionnula Flanagan excels as the nanny with a deep, dark secret. Because the children must remain in darkness, Grace must lock every door behind her, to make sure that the children don't accidentally enter a brightly lit room; it is a marvelous horror-film device that Amenabar uses to perfection.

Customer Reviews

One of the most wonderfully crafted films ever made
Unlike most scary films that start terrifyingly well before descending into a ridiculous sequence of violence and gore, 'The Others' sticks to its gripping and tense atmosphere the whole way. It is based on a frail woman named Grace (Nicole Kidman) who is coping on her own with her two children who have a severe allergy to light. This makes the film even creepier as it plays around with candlelight and darkness. Grace's husband (Christopher Eccleston) is fighting in world war two at this time and her many servants have mysteriously disappeared in the night which leaves the insecure woman to teach and look after her children by herself. Three new mysterious servants arrive at the house, but what Grace doesn't know is what they are hiding from her. Her daughter, Anne, tells her of seeing people, whom she calls the intruders, in the house. Her mother refuses to believe this at first but soon finds herself amongst whispering voices, pianos playing by themselves, and doors closing and opening on their own. She encounters one terrifying incident with her daughter which will leave you either screaming or clinging on to whoever's beside you. The film keeps viewers very scared until its shocking twist at the end. This is one of the few films that survives without a single drop of blood, the horror is purely psychological and rather destressing to certain exctent. Nicole Kidman shows her real talent, forcing the viewers to endure the terror with her. Everyone must see this masterpiece if they wish to see Nicole Kidman at her best and a disturbingly excellent storyline.

A THINKING PERSON'S GHOST STORY...
This is a superb, atmospheric ghost story that will have the viewer thinking right from the get go. There are things afoot here that go bump in the night, but it may not be what the viewer thinks.

On the Isle of Jersey, during the last days of World War II, a lovely, isolated mansion sits in the shrouding mists. The house is adequately, though sparsely, furnished. It is occupied by a mother, Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman), and her two children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). The children are afflicted with a great sensitivity to light, so much so that they must, at all times, have the curtains drawn and the shutters closed. Grace's husband, the children's father, had left them to fight in the war. This is a perfect and stark setting for what is to come.

One day, three strangers arrive on her doorstep. Grace presumes that they are there in response to her post for domestic help and hires Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), Edmund Tuttle (Eric Sykes), and Lydia (Elaine Cassidy) on the spot. Grace instructs them on the ideosyncratic ways she has of handling her children's sensitivity to light. It soon becomes clear, however, that this triumvirate has their own agenda and are not strangers to this house.

Nicole Kidman give a remarkable performance in this film. Tightly wound and controlling, she appears to be a woman on the brink of a breakdown, holding herself together only by a great effort of will, as she awaits her husband's return. Her performance as a lonely wife and seemingly protective mother contributes greatly to the tense and suspenseful atmosphere in the household. While I am not generally a fan of Ms. Kidman's, finding her ice maiden demeanor to be too cool for my tastes, even I must agree that her performance in this film is superlative and contributes greatly to its overall success.

The children both give excellent performances. It is the young boy, James Bentley, however, who deserves special mention. He shines in the role of Nicholas, giving a sensitive performance that conveys his pervasive fear of what seems to be going on in the household. It is a poignant and moving performance that will capture the viewer's heart.

Christopher Eccleston is marvelous in the role of Grace's husband and the children's father, who returns all too briefly, like a deus ex machina, conveying an infinite and bitterweet sadness that only adds to the disturbing portents that seem to be gathering about the Stewart household. Eccleston is an outstanding actor who manages to contribute greatly to the film in this small, but pivotal, role.

It is, however, Fionnula Flanagan in the role of the mysterious housekeeper, Bertha Mills, who steals the show. She is like the voice crying in the wilderness to those who will not hear her message. Strong and commanding in her performance, it is she, and not Nicole Kidman, who is the backbone of this film. Her presence lends such an eerie and discordant note, that one feels her presence to be that of a harbinger of doom. Yet, things are not all that they seem in this household, as the ending has a surprising twist to it.

This wonderful and highly atmospheric ghost story is one that is sure to delight those appreciative of this genre of film. Intelligent and finely crafted, it reveals an eerie story borne of psychological despair and horror. Beautifully directed by Alejandro Amenabar, it succeeds where others have failed. Relying on well nuanced moments, rather than grotesque special effects, this is a film that is sure to withstand the test of time and emerge as a classic. Bravo!

A real thought provoking twist on the afterlife
I must say that the slow pace of The Others did threaten to put me off watching after the first ten minutes or so, but I was soon captivated and spellbound by this very unique and original take on the classic ghost story.

It's interesting to watch such a haunting and ultimately sad tale set within this genre and for the normal goodie/baddie, dead/living viewer sympathies to be messed around with in such a creative manner.

The cast were superb, but top marks to the director for serving up such a chilling air of suspense and mystery. A real good old fashioned "don't watch alone" style thriller. No blood, guts or gore involved in this movie, just noiresque photography and lighting together with a constant sense of wondering what's happening, make The Others a classic of it's kind.

Very impressed to find out this was largely a Spanish production too. How did they make sunny Spain look so gloomy ?
A much more subtle and captivating approach to this subject than The Sixth Sense, Altogether a better film.

You must watch it!