The Other

A frenetic, angry energy announces itself almost immediately in Robert Mulligan’s 1972 gothic thriller The Other. That’s not surprising given the story’s content – imagine the filmmaker’s greatest success, 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird, with a healthy dose of pitchfork impaling, mummified severed thumbs, Game of Thrones-style 'warging,' and murderous doppelgängers. Unfortunately, the film is not as fun as all that makes it sound, and that energy quickly fizzles.

In a Depression-era US farming community, young twins Holland and Niles absorb the occult teachings of their Russian grandmother (Hagen), leading to a sizeable body count. Somewhere along the way there’s an obvious, shrug-inducing 'twist.' Ironically, The Other’s pedigree (which includes radiant, nostalgic cinematography from the legendary Robert Surtees) undermines its sense of chaos, lending a respectable sheen that fights against all the pulpy excess. The result is a mixed affair located in uneasy, confused space between The Innocents and a Hammer horror trash-fest. [Michelle Devereaux]