The Others (2001) 4K Review | Road Rash Reviews

4 star, great restoration of a classy supernatural horror.

The Others is a gothic supernatural horror film, originally released in 2001. It is written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside, Open Your Eyes) and is presented here following a 4K restoration courtesy of STUDIOCANAL.

STUDIOCANAL will release a new 4K Ultra HD™ Edition, Blu-ray and DVD on October 2nd 2023.

“You’ll soon find out there are times that this house is not exactly an ideal home. Hence my advertisement in the newspaper requesting honest, hard working people.”

It’s 1945, the war is over and Grace (Nicole Kidman – Paddington, Strangerland) is living in a house on former Nazi occupied Jersey. Living alone with her two children Anne (Alakina Mann – Girl with a Pearl Earring) and Nicholas (James Bentley – The Life and Death of Peter Sellers), she waits for news of her husband Charles (Christopher Eccleston – Legend, Safe House), who went away to war and hasn’t been heard from since.

Following an advertisement in the local paper, some servants arrive at the house to help her out, in the form of housekeeper and nanny Mrs Mills (Fionnula Flanagan – Four Brothers, The Guard), gardener Mr Tuttle (Eric Sykes – Son of Rambow, The Plank) and mute maid Lydia (Elaine Cassidy – Disco Pigs, The Wonder).

She gives them their very strange set of rules and instructions to be followed. The children are photosensitive, so cannot be exposed to any light stronger than candlelight, and all curtains must be closed before they can enter a room. All doors must also be locked before the next one is opened, to prevent any light from leaking through.

It’s not long before a series of strange goings on convince Grace that the house is haunted, confirmed by Anne who claims to have seen several different ghosts around the house. With the curtains constantly being opened, can they work out what is happening before any harm comes to the children?

“The only thong that moves here is the light, but it changes everything. It’s very difficult to say the least. One might almost say impossible.”

The Others is a superb horror film and a fresh and interesting take on the haunted house genre. It won’t appeal to fans of blood and gore, it isn’t that kind of film, rather a carefully paced tension building descent into terror.

It explores complex issues such as the psychological impact of life limiting conditions, as well as the perils of unthinking religious faith, and the impact of war. The huge, fog shrouded house is innately scary, made even more so by the lack of electricity and the need for constant candlelight. The ending is very clever too, I totally didn’t anticipate the twist.

What really makes this film is the acting, which is amazing with everyone, especially the children, pushing their performances to be incredibly believable. This is a really good restoration, and this release also features some brand new artwork and extras. A brilliant watch and well worth adding to your collection.

“The boy that was here a moment ago. I told him to let me study, but he wouldn’t stop crying. I think he’s a spoilt brat. He says we have to leave the house.”