The Other Side of the Door (2016) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Johannes Roberts
Producers: Alexandre Aja, Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh
Writers: Ernest Riera, Johannes Roberts
Date Released: March 6, 2016
Cast:
Sarah Wayne Callies as Maria
Jeremy Sisto as Michael
Sofia Rosinsky as Lucy
Logan Creran as Oliver
Suchitra Pillai as Piki
Javier Botet as Myrtu
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story is about a family living in India with the mother going through a tough grieving process since their firstborn son died in a car crash. To help her move on, their helper Piki told about a ritual where the living can talk to the dead. Ashes of the dead should be scattered in front of an abandoned temple, stay locked inside the temple, and talk to the dead by the door. The only rule is to never open the door whatever happens. Maria broke this rule and their life was never the same again.
Gore Factor
As with any ghost movie, this one is filled with random jump scares here and there. The scariest aspect of this movie is the inclusion of the Aghori people, real tribes in India. There are several scenes where they just pop out of nowhere. A creature feature of this movie is Myrtu, the four-armed gatekeeper of the underworld. As with any Asian horror movie, this monster crawls like a spider with twisted limbs. The evil Oliver is also scary and he inflicts the blood and gore towards the end. He possesses his little sister, kills their dog, and stabs their father. He then possesses Maria and of course, the Aghori killed her in order for Oliver to be brought back to the afterlife.
The Grave Review
The emotionless acting is problematic in this movie. The lack of chemistry among the characters is so evident and to think they are supposedly a family.
The acting is already bland and annoying, but one major cringe-worthy scene where the predictability started was when the temple door was opened. Maria unlocked it real quick without much argument. It would have been better if the audiences see the struggle of the mother and son talking behind closed doors. Of course, from then on, strange things will surely happen because a rule was broken.
There are too many random jump scares that are not relevant to the story. One example is when an accident victim lying on the ground suddenly looks at Maria. Another one is the scene where a beggar was knocking on Michael’s car door.
If there is a thing to love about this movie, it is how it featured India and its traditions. The architecture of their house, the narrow streets in the slum area, the public transport, the Aghori and their beliefs, and Indian superstitions are something fresh in the middle of all the cliché scenes.
The ending is also good in the sense that it took the movie full circle when Maria appeared outside of the temple door with her ashes and Michael did the ritual.
Overall, this movie is mediocre if you are looking for jump scares and horror scenes.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Other side of the Door (2016) two and a half graves out of five graves.
Do you agree with our review? Comment below.
Join the Conversation