I saw this movie ages ago, I think when it first came out (2001) and remembered it having quite a few genuinely creepy moments.
I wanted to revisit it and introduce it to my boyfriend mostly because he's always trying to subject me to 'boy' movies or wants me to watch random animated stuff which is actually awesome but I resist watching initially (How to Train Your Dragon and Astroboy).
Nicole Kidman plays a mother, Grace, in 1947 in England with her two photosensitive children who live in a huge mansion. The war is over but her husband hasn't returned and the servants up and left one day and never returned. Enter 3 wanderers who require work and previously worked in the mansion, 2 women (1 mute) and one older man. Even though they never saw her advertisement in the paper (the postman didn't pick up the ad) Grace allows them to stay and work.
Strange noises begin to appear to Grace and the children, Nicholas and Anne. Especially Anne who says she can see a young boy named Victor. They begin to refer to the people as the intruders and we are not sure if Anne is making it up to scare her brother, whether the new servants have something to do with it all or if there is something else living in the house.
I am an awful horror movie viewer as I've said before, so while this time around I still found some moments scary I'm not sure if the general population would agree with me.
In particular there is a scene where Grace is in the attic investigating strange noises but she finds nothing amongst all the furniture covered with cloth for storage.
Also not long afterwards she finds in a trunk portraits of dead people, including babies and children. Apparently it was once tradition to do this as they believed their spirit would live on through the picture. Gah. I just did not like that at all and hope it is not a real tradition. Gave me the heebie jeebies.
Another scene I found tense was where Anne is trying on her first communion dress and playing with the marionette (has also been spoofed in one of the Scary Movies so perhaps has lost some of it's initial impact!).
The final ten minutes I also found suspenseful and I did not pick the ending when I watched it originally and my boyfriend didn't on his first viewing. Think of that what you will.
The whole movie has an atmospheric spooky vibe due to the children not being allowed access to direct sunlight and only use low level gas lamps throughout the film.
I thought the child actors did a pretty good job, Anne was decidedly sinister in some scenes, awful to her brother and then just a normal scared child in others.
She hasn't gone on to do a lot more acting apart from a role in
Girl with a Pearl Earring which is a shame because she was a good actor in The Others.
The score at times really helped the storyline during some of the creepy scenes and then sometimes it seemed a bit dramatic and over the top. Some of the camera angles used were cool too, particularly when they are searching the house and do a panoramic view of each view as it is revealed to be empty of 'intruders'.
Kidman was at her rigid, icy and slightly religious best I think. Her accent was a bit muddled, it didn't seem as English as the childrens was and I have read past criticism of her accent in The Hours too so maybe it's not her preferred dialect.
Overall I still enjoyed it, although maybe I had built up in my head how creepy it was. 3 stars.
