The Other
(1972/Fox DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: C-
Robert
Mulligan’s 1972 ambitious supernatural thriller The Other is a film you will either really like or not. It is one of those films that create its
suspense with editing and character development, not visual effects. Thomas Tryon adapted his own hit book for
this film about evil young brothers in a small town during The Depression. If you follow the film closely and let
yourself become involved, it can work, but it does not work otherwise and there
are several reasons why.
For one,
The Perry Twins are played by two actors, but they are directed to be too
similar to the point that it becomes more counterproductive than creepy. Why are the tragedies occurring? What set off the Supernatural forces, if
any? Does this have anything with them
being poor, as if it were some kind of punishment? The film becomes too dragged down by trying
to be the book that it forgets to be a film, despite Mulligan’s capacities as a
filmmaker.
I did
think brothers Chris and Martin Udvarnoky could act and were natural and
believable, while Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, John Ritter and even Victor French
made for a good cast. It makes the film
respectable and I can understand the following and respect the film has. Too bad it is just one of those films that do
not gel for this critic, though I wonder if this version being 100 minutes and
an earlier version being 108 minutes long might be a problem. This is a film that walks the line between
the Supernatural and of sanity, something that worked much better in Nicholas
Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and Stanley
Kubrick’s The Shining. Since these are so rare, that part of the
appeal makes sense.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 was shot by Robert Surtees, known for his big
screen work on Oklahoma! (reviewed
elsewhere on this site), Ben-Hur, Mutiny On The Bounty, and Doctor Dolittle, as well as smaller
films like The Graduate, The Collector, The Satan Bug, Mulligan’s Summer
Of ’42 and The Last Picture Show
and more that shows his visual skills helped make this film work as much as
anything. The transfer here is good, if
not great, sometimes soft because of the style and others because of print
and/or transfer issues. Still, this is
better than the lack of a widescreen version until now. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and Mono are not
bad, with the Stereo being a bit better and featuring another impressive Jerry
Goldsmith score. The combination is
pretty good for their age and the only extra is the trailer.
- Nicholas Sheffo
