Episode 133: Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others (2001)
Rotten Tomato Score: 84%
A single slammed door shouldn’t feel like a jump scare you carry for hours, but that’s the magic trick The Others (2001) keeps pulling. We pour a brutally strong “Ghost Sip,” then head back into Alejandro Amenábar’s gothic haunted house classic with Nicole Kidman at full intensity and two child performances that actually raise the tension instead of breaking it.
We talk through our first impressions, why the movie still plays so well in a theater, and the big question every twist-ending horror film has to face: does it hold up on rewatch? One of us calls it a near perfect first-watch experience, another enjoys the second pass as a clue hunt, and we all agree the film’s control of space, light, and routine turns a mansion into a pressure cooker. Along the way we hit our favorite Screams and Streams categories: tropes (fog, locked doors, creepy help, seances), one-liners, what didn’t hold up, and the moments that still make our skin crawl.
Then we go deeper on the craft: the sound design that makes footsteps thunder, the constant score that never lets your shoulders drop, and the specific shots that define the movie’s dread. We also bring bonus research, including the real-world condition behind the kids’ sunlight sensitivity, casting facts, awards, and the wild box office numbers that made this a horror juggernaut.
Sinister Sips
The Ghost Sip
From: The Haunted Walk
Recipe:
1.5 oz Whisky
.75 oz Vermouth
1.5 oz Gin
Fill a rocks glass with crushed ice
Add ingredients, and ice, to a cocktail shaker and shake for 10-15 seconds
Strain into rocks glass
Plot Summary:
In 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted. (Taken from IMDb)
Watchability Scale
Mike feels the movie isn’t as great on a revisit and gave the film a 7. Sam liked it a bit more and gave it an 8. Chad enjoyed it the most and gave it a 9. We placed the film at 8 on the Watchability Scale.
Links
Movie Trivia (TV Tropes)
Movie Facts (Mental Floss)
Movie Info (Not Starring)