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Title: The Other (1972) Post by: AndyC on July 21, 2008, 07:21:15 PM I've been wanting to see this movie for a few years now, and finally got around to tracking down a copy. The Other is a story of two identical twin brothers, Niles and Holland, set in the summer of 1934 or 35 (Bruno Hauptmann is front-page news). The boys get into all sorts of mischief together, usually instigated by Holland. And a lot of people seem to have unfortunate accidents right after p**sing off Holland. Holland, it appears, is the 'Evil Twin.'
Possible spoilers follow, so be warned. The big twist in this story is not difficult to guess, especially when it's been used many times in the 36 years since the movie came out. But it's still fun to wait for the big reveal, and Niles/Holland is such a scary kid, particularly when he's being the good son. He's so loving and gentle and cheerful, its freaky when you know that he's as nutty as a fruitcake. Uta Hagen, as the old Russian grandmother, gave a superb performance. A young John Ritter plays a small part. And Diana Muldaur really does a good job of playing the boys' emotionally-fragile mother, who is just barely clinging to sanity herself, and tortured by both personal tragedy and the horror of what she suspects. No on-screen gore, but the climax and ending were about as disturbing as you can get, probably really shocking to 1972 audiences. Nice foreshadowing throughout, particularly with the pregnant sister, the fascination with Hauptman, the story of the Changeling, and a weird scene with a pickled punk at a carnival sideshow. Left me with a nagging sense of dread. I had some idea where the movie was headed, but I just assumed they'd never take it all the way. I'm sitting there through the big search scene, thinking "He didn't, no, he didn't, he didn't, holy crap, he did!" And then the old grandmother pulls a surprise that is both horrifying and satisfying at the same time. And then, after all that, the twist ending comes out of nowhere, makes you go WTF?, but makes perfect sense. All in all, it left me with a nice creepy feeling, and stayed in my thoughts for some time after. What more could you want from a horror flick? Title: Re: The Other (1972) Post by: Allhallowsday on July 21, 2008, 10:52:25 PM Lester started a thread about this topic some months ago:
http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,115927.0.html (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,115927.0.html) |