ealing with the death of a child is something cinema does either really poorly or really well. There’s no mediocre “dealing with a child death” film, it seems. It’s either a cheap, exploitative gag or a way to find an insight into the nature of humanity. One of the best of the latter variety recently was Rabbit Hole. One of the worst of the former variety is The Other Side of the Door, which takes the death of a child and turns it into a cheap horror premise.
Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) has just her child in a car accident in India and isn’t moving on from it. She goes to an ancient door that allows one to communicate with the dead, it seems, and all hell breaks loose from there. The spirit of her son returns to haunt her, and her family, blah blah.
The problem is that it’s neither original, interesting or scary. It’s a cheap gimmick relying upon a cheap gimmick to try an audience and neither works.
A horror film that couldn’t find an audience, this is a film that uses a child’s death as a cheap gag, throws in jump scares, et al, and some obnoxious attempts at mysticism for a film that rightfully flopped with critics and box office audiences alike.
Nothing significant.
20th Century Fox presents The Other Side of the Door. Directed by Johannes Roberts. Written by Ernest Riera & Johannes Roberts. Starring Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto. Run Time: 95 minutes Rated R. Released on DVD: 6.7.2016
