Grade (D+)
Not a horrible film, barely.
So you take a common horror film to India, wrap it extremely loosely around the ideology of the Aghoris and you get “The Other Side of the Door.” This film stars television actors, Sarah Wayne Callies and Jeremy Sisto, as well as Sofia Rosinsky and Suchitra Pillai.
In this story an American family living in India as antique dealers lose their son in a tragic accident. Unable to move on with her life Maria played by Callies takes part in an ancient ritual to try and have one final good-bye with her son, but when she disregards one of the strict warnings she unleashes a dangerous spiritual force that will torment the entire family.
This wasn’t a completely horrible horror movie but it was a very uninspired one. Not so much for the locations or theme, but more in its execution of the story. One that had potential to build a compelling tale, but in the end followed the same genre tropes we have seen for years.
The characters were pretty wooden, and nothing new. Sarah Wayne Callies gave some effort but the writing doesn’t do her any favors. She was hard to connect with and despite the loss of a child, her blind decision making was just unrealistic at times in my opinion. Jeremy Sisto plays the simple husband role that are in many horror films like these. He’s there, but never really there when anything is happening, so he’s the typical character who is in disbelief, to try and generate some sympathy for the character played by Callies.
The performances of Sofia Rosinsky and Suchitra Pillai were the best in the film. Their characters felt the most genuine, and Rosinsky is an adorable kid who created a modestly heartwarming character, and it was interesting to see her interactions with this spirit.
It was just odd for me that the efforts taken in the selection some visually appealing locations, accurate wardrobes and set-pieces, that there would be such a lack of ambition in the structure of the script. This was a highly predictable story-line and you can see things coming from a mile away which greatly hinders the impact.
Other than a rather suspenseful scene regarding the accident that takes their sons life, one that really managed to tug on the heart-strings, there was nothing else in this story that would reach that same tension.
The jump-scares are very telegraphed and a few of the creepy scenes this story does deliver do not make up for the rest of the bland plot-line you have to sit through. Some of the scenes are very cheesy and feel like jump-scares from the genre in days of “The Ring” or the “The Grudge.”
There were a handful of beautiful shots in this film but nothing to make it memorable and with the efforts in the writing lacking this horror film will be soon forgotten. If you feel like a tense horror film that will have you on edge this movie will have a few moments but nothing close to stringing together a tense story overall, concluding with a third-act that felt very recycled.
Time: 96 min
MPAA Rating: R (For some bloody violence)
