The Door

"The Other Side of the Door" (2016 release; 95 min.) brings the story of Maria and Michael. As the movie opens, we are informed that this is "Mumbai, India" and we see the couple having dinner and walking on the beach, On a whim, they decide to make Mumbai their home. We then go "Six Years Later", and Maria is having a nightmare, Soon we learn that the couple lost a young son (we learn how in a flashback) and the couple and their daughter are struggling in the aftermath. After Maria tries to commit suicide, the household maid Piki tells her about a mysterious temple in the woods far away, where Maria could meet her little boy one more time and say a final farewell. At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest horror movie from British director Johannes Roberts, who most recently gave us "Storage 24". Here Roberts goes the super-natural dimension, looking for the thin line between life and death. I must admit that I didn't know a whole lot about this movie going into it, and as it turns out, this was quite the disappointment for me. If shock effects akin to a bat flying out of a cave or toys in a bedroom starting to move are enough to make it a scary movie, then this will be right up your alley. Not to mention that there are several plot points that are utterly unbelievable, even accounting for the fact that this is a horror movie, where all belief is suspended. This is in stark contrast to how much better that other 'horror' movie which I saw recently, "The Witch", was compared to this. Sarah Wayne Collins (as Maria), best know for her work in "The Walking Dead", does the best she can with the material she is given and as always is easy on the eyes. But even she cannot overcome the fact that the movie lacks much character development, and as a result there is little to no emotional investment on the viewer's part. Early on in the movie, Piki tells her that when she is in the temple, whatever her little boy does, "you must not open the door!!!". Wanna take a guess what happens? One of the better aspects of the movie is actually the score, courtesy of Joseph Bishara, a noted composer in the horror movie genre (the "Insidious" franchise, the "Conjuring" franchise, etc.).

"The Other Side of the Door" opened nationwide this weekend. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended okay but not great. Couldn't help but notice that I saw 4 or 5 people leave midway through the film, and not returning. I made it to the end, but barely. A darn shame. I love a good horror movie, and surely this wasn't it, but by all means, if you have a chance to check out "The Other Side of the Door", be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, I'd encourage you to do so and draw your own conclusion.

Prison Break's Sarah Wayne Callies carries this British-Indian horror production with the same demeanour as her more familiar role; maternal enough to sell the film's major theme, yet strong enough to carry the entire feature. This, after all, is what Callies is tasked with, as the grieving mother she portrays invites her dead son's spirit back to the world of the living with inevitably chilling consequences.

While the majority of studio horror nowadays is bound by so many stipulations - the jump scares, the teenage cast demographics - that ultimately render it generic, The Other Side of the Door benefits from a refreshing change of setting in its Indian locale. As a result, not only does the film look elegantly beautiful with its colours and scenery, but its plot also benefits from a less familiar cultural angle than most supernatural thrillers are afforded. The central menace here - a temple doorway through which the living can contact the dead - is so far removed from Western ideology and the recurring origins of its horror movie monsters that the film undeniably offers something that is at least different, if not completely new. The second act, where things go bump in the night as Maria questions the nature of the spirit she's allowed back into her home, is admittedly routine, but that's not the issue with modern horror; the issue is whether or not it can at least try to overcome this mundane narrative.

This is where the screenplay's wider themes come in to sharper focus, as the audience encourages Maria to make the right choices while sympathising with her fragile state of mind. The horror isn't simply limited to creepy children and unseen entities, but also the lengths a parent is compelled to go to in order to be reunited with a lost child. It's most certainly enough to make the more pedestrian scares forgivable as you witness a family being torn further apart by their loss just as much they are the shadows that lurk around them.

The Other Side of the Door won't terrify you any more than any other supernatural horror released this year, and that's because, by now, genre aficionados really have seen it all. What it will do, however, is linger with you much longer as you place yourselves in the shoes of an emotionally drained mother who, you understand, would do anything to see her son again.

Watched this fully for the firs time tonight and I must say it is actually a real horror film as it genuinely has lots of atmos-fear and is actually quite scary!

Being set in India adds that fear of the foreign and it has some really good sfx makeup.

Some people reviewing and giving it poor low scores are obviously not horror fans so each to their own - if you are a true horror fan this one will send shivers up and down your spine as it has some really rather creative effects and jump scares - Loved the ending too, true horror fans hate happy endings so for us, it is the cherry on the cake!

If you are looking for a scare then this is the one for you!

Directed by Johannes Roberts and Roberts co-writes the screenplay with Ernest Riera. It stars Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky and Suchitra Pillai.

Still struggling to come to terms with the death of her young son, Maria (Callies) is told of an Indian ritual where she can say goodbye to her son one last time, under one condition. The condition is that the conversation will be on the other side of a door - a door which simply must not be opened...

There were far worse horror films than this released in 2016, that's not to say this should be a selling point for The Other Side of the Door, but it at least is effective in what it does. The problems really are that it's all very cliché ridden, but how many horror films do not have clichés anyway? This is one for those who are just after a few genuine scares, some creeping dread like atmosphere, and a nifty ending. It doesn't tread any new ground, and it comes off like the bastard child of Ringu and Pet Sematary, but sometimes a safe horror with clichés is all you need for a decent night in with the lights off. 6.5/10

It was a pretty good movie, nothing spectacular, but worth a watch. The acting was decent, and the atmosphere was pretty creepy. The story it self was very predictable, especially if you've read Pet Cemetery. Sarah Wayne Callies was terrific in it. I just didn't find the story very original.

I liked that it was set in India and incorporated some of the Indian religions and customs.

Don't expect anything ground breaking, but it's a good movie to watch if you like jump scares. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend and hour and a half.