The Other Side

OK now I liked this movie unlike a lot of the straight to DVD movies that I have watched, it had some great action along with some good fights as well. I really liked the whole escape from Lucifer's bounty hunters idea, this movie had a little bit of something for everyone, it had action, humor, thrills, and even sadness towards the ending. I liked the movie although I thought the ending could have been a lot better if it was given a little more thought. Altogether I give this movie a 7 out of 10 because I enjoyed it, I have seen theatrical films that could learn a thing or two from this film even though I wasn't a big fan of the ending. I would recommend this to action fans and those who like thrillers because this movie is certainly not disappointing.

After his graduation in Business from Columbia, Samuel North (Nathan Mobley) returns to his hometown in Athens County to meet his beloved fiancée Hanna Thompson (Jaimie Alexander). Sam calls Hanna, who work as waitress at the Montana's and he schedules the encounter "in their place" nearby a waterfall. Hanna never arrives and Sam is killed by the driver of a van and sent to Hell. However, there is a breach and many lost souls escape from the Pit including Sam back to the world of the living. While they are chased by the hunters from the hell called Reapers, who can switch bodies when they are killed and are called Switchers and leaded by the powerful Changeling, Sam finds that Hanna is missing and he is the prime suspect. Sam is helped by the former thief Oz (Poncho Hodges) and the former adulterer Mally (Cory Rouse) from the other side that believe they can find redemption helping Sam, and by his friend and policeman Peter (Stephen Caudill) and discovers the identity and the motives of the assassin.

"The Other Side" is a great supernatural story disclosed in a fast-pace and lots of humor. This low-budget movie has a great development of the plot and characters, using the principles of faith, redemption, sin, heaven and hell and excellent performances of the unknown cast. If it is true that Gregg Bishop made this movie with only US$ 15,000.00, I would like to give additional congratulations for this lesson to Hollywood with one of the best indie movies ever. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Anjos da Morte" ("Angels of the Death")

Don't expect a masterpiece. Please. The Other Side is entertaining, semi-original, and for the most part, well acted. Some of the scenes could have been removed, some of the actors could have been replaced, but honestly, with such a low budget, the crew/cast did a great job. The main character especially was well done. His relationship with his girlfriend was portrayed well in some parts but came off a little cheesy in others. Most other low budget horror movies are based around sex scenes/nudity and gore which detracts from the plot a great deal. The Other Side does not indulge in this cliché and is, in this reviewers opinion, a breath of fresh air in a stale genre.

"The other side" succeeds in creating a suspenseful action movie! Personally I would like to have seen more of the "Hell" dimension where the main character escaped from. I think they didn't show it because of the low budget. For the most part it isn't noticeable that this is a low budget production. The acting is even decent. The unknown cast are fairly convincing in their roles. I think they did what they could. I do think it is a shame that we don't learn much more about "the reapers" and "hell". That would have shifted the focus more and would be more interesting. In stead it is used as a sub plot. The mystery is all about the main character girlfriend's who is missing. This story line is certainly thrilling. Although sometimes the action scenes are more distracting and pointless and get in the way of the mystery. But to be fair the action scenes are nicely done. And there is enough eyecandy to keep the male audience happy. The female reapers (in black leather) sure are hot and dangerous. Because of the main character and the mystery about his girlfriend you get sucked in to the story. The fast pace really helps and is one of the reasons that make this into an entertaining movie. Worth watching!

No pun intended - Gregg Bishop: he did one of the funniest zombie comedies I have seen: Dance of the Dead. He did not write the script for that one and Jaime Alexander was not part of that either (the latter being a bit sad - at least for me). She seems to be a bit of a go to woman for him, has appeared in a few things he did - one of them being this one right here.

That said, the movie is a bit ... well there may be a bit too much cutting, a bit too much story. It is tough to follow and there are too many characters for its own good. I assume it was well intended, but it is quite confusing at times. Where (or when) are we? And what is the movie trying to tell us? Not to mention the weird (almost non reaction) to people doing stuff that normal humans are not able to do ... if this is supposed to tell us that what we see is not real ... well the movie does not the best job in being clear about it.

Still there is something interesting here - and if you forgive the flaws and all the insanity that is going on .. you can be entertained ... maybe even understand what the movie is trying to tell us/you.