The Other (1972)

Really Surprised!

Excellent but underrated film

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Love the Twins & Uta Hagen...great performances... I watch this movie every time I get.

This is a film I have never seen before and to be honest had never even heard of but is a beauty. At the start, with idyllic woodland scenes and boys at play, although the sun shines and the trees look magical, there is already something not quite right. Director, Robert Mulligan unsettles the viewer partly in traditional ways with uncanny sounds or sudden movements but there are also unusual camera zooms and pans that disconcert because the source and intention is unclear. Something is afoot that we do not understand. The film proceeds and initially seems a sunny, happy, extended family at work and play in a small community but the twins seem to have their own agenda. Maybe it is not all harmless fun. Uta Hagen is brilliant in a most important and central role but is her involvement with reference to the church and angels really so helpful? Oh, and people start dying.

This was one film I walked into cold. Completely cold. I remember the opening. Thinking. Oh. How idyllic. Perhaps something along the lines of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Not remembering that THAT one was a punch in the gut. This sucker is a bit closer to a knife that just kinda misses your kidneys. Maybe. It is hard to write about how good the twins are. Watch them. See if you can figure out which is which. He, he, HE,efink (jeeze, they don't even like the word... heck, I cant even type it), he. You've been bitch slapped. I will never, EVER, hear the phrase, "Oh, my God!" without shuddering my bones. This is a must see flick and, if you can, spring it on someone. It is a nasty little surprise.

The acting all around was over-the-top, theatrical, and unconvincing. The boys, the Russian lady, the mother, the fat kid, and the rat lady come to mind. Where was the director to reign their performances in? These kids obviously couldn't carry the film, and yet they have so much dialogue. It was cringeworthy and annoying.I watched it with two other people. After 50 minutes, one of them asked if we could watch something else because of the acting and silly plot. We watched some more because I assured them it was an alleged classic and would surely get better. The second person, who has a high tolerance for Lifetime/Hallmark-type films, also said the acting was awful.I decided I would finish it the next day by myself, but I ended up fast-forwarding through most of the repetitive scenes. To be fair, I didn't see the twist coming, nor did I expect that dark of an ending. So it gets a couple extra points for that.I'm surprised at all of the rave reviews citing this as a masterpiece of subtlety (what) and one of the greatest horror films of all time (possibly from people that saw it at a very young age).