I saw this strange movie last night.
'The Other' (1972), directed by Robert Mulligan.
It's kind of an erie drama horror movie. I don't know how I should classify it. It's a movie experience I won't soon forget.
Two boys, one good, one kind of evil. 1930's setting.
If you haven't seen it, I won't say more about the plot.
It's now one of my favorites. Before the DVD release it was a rather obscure movie occasionally shown on TV in the US.
When people see it when young, they never forget it.
It's beautifully filmed with great acting. I recognised only two actors: John Ritter and Victor French.
I wasn't particularly scared. It has it's own special kind of feeling up until the climax which many will find grotesque and horrifying. I've read lots of comments on the movie by people who got scared by it.
The soundtrack music by Jerry Goldsmith i also very good.
Many scenes benefits from having no music on the soundtrack. It hightens the tension.
This is one of the more intelligent horror movies you'll find. Great plot and dialogue. Many surprising, and not so surprising, twists and turns in the plot.
I didn't understand the ending. And that's just one of the things that puzzled me.
The boys playing the twins are just plain great!
I'd call it a "lost" 1970's classic.
I might ad that the picture quality on the Region 1 DVD is excellent+.
I'm looking forward to rewatching it.
Even B
The Other (1972)
I saw this movie a few years ago and was impressed. i don't know why it is forgotten, except because it is hard to classify. It is an "evil child" movie, but it isn't about demonic possession. It isn't Gothic horror, like Hammer and AIP, but it isn't contemporary, like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" either. Nor can you say it is using horror for social commentary, which is how most people think of George Romero.
In some ways, "the Other" is almost the evil twin of "Paper Moon" and "the Waltons" and all the other 1930s nostalgia that was somehow loose in the 1970s.
(Indeed, maybe its 1930s setting makes people say "How Seventies!" and forget about it.)
The film's music is very good, especially the use of "All I Do Is Dream of You."
In some ways, "the Other" is almost the evil twin of "Paper Moon" and "the Waltons" and all the other 1930s nostalgia that was somehow loose in the 1970s.
(Indeed, maybe its 1930s setting makes people say "How Seventies!" and forget about it.)
The film's music is very good, especially the use of "All I Do Is Dream of You."
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Re: The Other (1972)
The Other features the first Hollywood film performance by the great actress-teacher Uta Hagen (1919-2004), who had been blacklisted, partly due to her relationship with Paul Robeson (with whom she had worked on a groundbreaking production of Othello). She devoted her time to teaching, to performances on stage, and to occasional appearances on early television. Hagen originated the role of Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, for which she won her second Tony Award, her first being for her performance in The Country Girl, in the role that Grace Kelly played on screen.
Kim Hunter, who had worked with Hagen when Hagen stood in for Jessica Tandy in the original production of A Streetcar Named Desire, has said that Hagen was the best Blanche that she ever worked with. And Hunter also worked with Vivian Leigh in the movie.
Kim Hunter, who had worked with Hagen when Hagen stood in for Jessica Tandy in the original production of A Streetcar Named Desire, has said that Hagen was the best Blanche that she ever worked with. And Hunter also worked with Vivian Leigh in the movie.