Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Jerrie
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Michael Ledo
Michael (Jeremy Sisto) and Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) have given up the city that never sleeps to live in India, the part that looks like paradise and doesn't have all those third world beggars. Maria has trouble coping with the loss of her son Oliver (Logan Creran) who she accidentally drowned Susan Smith style. She is informed on how to talk to her son one last time, by going to a remote temple only known to the locals and those with Google Earth. Here the boundary between the living and dead is weak. After spreading Oliver's ashes and waiting until night, she can speak to Oliver through a door, which she is instructed never to open. She gets it all correct, except for maybe that one thing, which you would know if you are old enough to read the title.Soon they have visitations which are initially pleasant and then formula. The film was meh up until the last 10 minutes which were great.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. The "R" and BCFF 15 ratings I consider a bit high.
GL84
After the death of their son, a couple living in Mumbai trying to cope learn a mystical way of bringing them back to communicate with them again only to find that something sinister is following them home and must find a way of stopping the spirits' influence on them.This one wasn't that bad if an altogether decent supernatural affair. One of the few great parts about this one is the fact that it manages to get the conditions and practices of the ceremony into the story rather nicely. The way it details the instructions specifically, from the manner of how to get there and what to do when they arrive and in what precise order it must be carried out in order to work properly, these are all handled quite well and gives this the kind of set-up which brings the scenes in the temple itself their inherent creepiness. By going through the motions of retrieving the ashes, arriving and preparing the candles and the layout of the ceremonial trinkets that are prepared for the start of the ritual inside which is quite creepy and works due to these early set-ups as well as the details of the temple itself. Once it comes back to the rather impressive supernatural details later on, this one is even better with the series of rather chilling events showing the demonic spirit tormenting her and her family out in the slums of the city or the series of rather tense confrontations in their home which are rather fun and chilling from the accidental death in their backyard or the battle in the kitchen with the possessed individual. With so many of these scenes featuring the rather creepy and chilling looking designs of the spirits taken directly from Hindu folklore for their appearance, this makes for a much more shocking look that really helps this one, this one manages to really get some impressive elements here although it does have it's fair share of sizable flaws. The main one here is the fact that so much of what happens here doesn't have the slightest bit of interest here as it's just not that chilling or scary to go through the rather bland scenes of their marital problems or her physical condition which manifests itself following her return. There's way too much melodrama in this part which doesn't come off in the slightest bit interesting following the stellar opening half with the accident and the ceremony, so that dip really appears obvious with some really troubling and bland scenes that feature the wholly expected jump scares of shrieking ashen-faced specters only she can see that are just so expected and clichéd that they're not even that worthy of generating the jump. That becomes a recurring theme here where it tends to rely on this clichéd look and topic for the vast majority of it's scares and it really becomes old after awhile not only seeing the same type of scares but going through the motions again. Likewise, the other big problem area here is the fact that the ending is somewhat abrupt and just seems to end really without warning, stopping and just rolling credits which somewhat neuters the effects just shown beforehand. Otherwise, this one wasn't all too terrible overall.Rated R: Violence, Language, children-in-jeopardy and implied animal violence.
Peter Pluymers
"What if I could bring your son back to you just one more time? What if I could give you the chance to say your final goodbye?""The other side of the door" is not really a bad movie. Technically speaking it really looks magnificent at certain moments. Moreover, India as location and the used ancient ritual sure made for a unique starting point. But ultimately it was only a collection of all sorts of previously used ideas. I thought it felt a bit outdated. That wouldn't be such a huge problem if there was a certain tension or creepiness. Unfortunately, this was also missing, making it once again a horror that never exceeded mediocrity.The story reminded me of "Pet Semetary" with the loss of a child and the desire to bring it back to life again. In "The Other Side of the door" Michael (Jeremy Sisto) and Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) decided in an impulsive moment to stay in Bombay and to found a family. Years later we see how they have settled there, living in an idyllic looking house somewhere in downtown Bombay and their lives being enriched by the presence of their daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky) and the typical family dog Winston. However, it's not entirely rosy because of the tragedy that occurred in the past, with the death of their son Oliver (Logan Creran) as a result. Maria is tormented daily by guilt and grief. Fortunately, Piki (Suchitra Pillai) the housekeeper has a grandiose idea. The things needed to fulfill this idea are the ashes of the deceased child, an old dilapidated temple and a nightly sleepover there. This could bring relief to Maria's heavy psychological problem. But obviously there's a golden rule that shouldn't be violated. And of course it's clear that is definitely going to happen anyway. Now we're off to a kind of "The Conjuring" made in India. All kinds of objects suddenly start to move around and ghostly apparitions appear and reappear in the background. And for the umpteenth time we get a self-playing piano. And for God's sake, when is anybody going to pay attention to the warnings of the dog. First the phenomenon is the kindness itself. Afterwards it turns out to be fairly aggressive again. Nothing new either. And just like in "Lights Out", the solution to the problem is the relationship between the caring mother and the ghostly presence. Again so predictable. Throw in some primitive painted Indian folkloric figures, called the Aghori who practice rather peculiar rituals so they can communicate with spirits in the afterlife, and it's complete. Those Aghori are creepy individuals appearing out of nowhere and producing an annoying, mesmerizing sound. But they aren't as scary as Myrtu who suddenly begins to interfere with the whole affair. It's a creature from the underworld that looks terrifying enough. I think they've used the "stop-motion" technique for this one (also an obsolete special effect). For me this was probably the most positive part of the film.All in all, it's just an old-fashioned ghost story that didn't take place in an American old mansion to my relief, but in dark India instead where the mystic about afterlife and primitive rituals are still alive among the elderly population. Clearly modern Western people shouldn't experiment with such rituals. It's nothing earth shattering, but it's not bad either. Though expect a few strategically placed jump scares and a thoughtful ending. More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT
Argemaluco
I can't deny the fact that the premise of The Other Side of the Door is more creative than the typical tales about haunted houses and vindictive ghosts. And the same can be said about the Indian locations, which employ the city of Mumbai as the frame of exotic rituals and spiritual practices which are a bit confusing, but at least different from the Christian iconography which is so common in the horror genre. Unfortunately, co-screenwriters Johannes Roberts (who was also the director) and Ernest Riera thought that that innovation was going to be enough, so he filled the story with the most worn- out clichés, including: forced shocks every 10 or 15 minutes; skeptical husband; night noises; visions which end up being simple nightmares; gratuitous dog victim; digitally deformed faces; and evil kid (or childish spirit, in this case). The mythology of the screenplay isn't clear, but it has a certain logic which isn't convenient to examine too much, while it's not convenient to deepen into the solution offered by the Indian Brahmins to break the spell. As for the cast, we find two solid actors (Jeremy Sisto and Sarah Wayne Callies) trapped into bland and generic roles which don't require too much effort. On the positive side, I liked the way in which Roberts and Riera brought an interesting twist to the typical car accident which adds drama to any tale, because it makes us think about what we would do under similar circumstances, while inspiring fear of something like that happening in our lives... not the apocryphal "horror" of ghosts and possessions, but the real anguish about the welfare of the family; in other words, another good idea into a screenplay ruined by an insipid and listless execution. However,I think I can give The Other Side of the Door a slight recommendation, specially to those people who don't know the previously mentioned clichés by heart. Stan Lee once said: "every comic is someone's first comic", and I guess that The Other Side of the Door can be the first horror film someone watches, and in that case, I found it moderately entertaining... and mediocre enough in order not to create excessively high expectations for this genre. It's better to start from the bottom and then going up in order not to get immediately disappointed.