The Other Side of the Door

Greetings my fellow spooks. I must ask, is it too much to ask that people follow certain rules? Don't touch a hot stove. Look both ways before you cross. And don't open doors to the land of the dead. Well here is a movie that shows why some doors should stay locked, and the key destroyed, or launched into space.

In Mumbai India, after a tragic accident, Maria is consumed with grief as the accident claimed the life of her son Oliver. She is also overcome with guilt cause during the accident she chose to save her daughter Lucy first before Oliver leaving him to die. After surviving an attempted suicide, her housekeeper, Piki, tells her of a temple where the line between the living and the dead is thin and there, Maria can say one last goodbye to Oliver. Piki give's her instructions. One instruction is that Maria is to never open the door no matter how much Oliver pleads with her. Sure enough, at the temple, Oliver shows up and Maria speaks to him. However, he tells her he has to go. Not wanting him to leave, Maria opens the door and finds he is not there. Unknown to her, she has disturbed the balance between the living and the dead, and what has come home with her is not the sweet boy she remembers, but a dark version of Oliver.

This movie had some potential, that was drowned out by missing information. There are numerous examples. One being the Shamans that seem to pop up everywhere. We are given a short but informal fact about them. BUT, we are not given information as to why they are doing various things. One scene is that they approach Maria and put ash on her face. There is no explanation for it. No reason. Just, 'here is some ash on your face. Have a nice day'. I would of loved to hear a reason for that. Or how about what they are chanting? Or why is every plant dying? As you watch the movie it starts to make sense, but a little bit of fill in the gaps would be nice. Plus, this movie is basing the haunting on the Hindu beliefs. We get such a small taste of it, that we are left in the dark. And some things are just never explained.

I got mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand its just your average scares and story of ghosts. But on the other hand, with the culture twist added, it makes it more interesting. True it borrows some familiar ghost story layouts, but on a small level, it works. Aside from that, I wouldn't say don't watch this movie, but I wouldn't say you have got to watch this. Much like the character Oliver, its in limbo. As for the whole door thing, I wouldn't open the door even if the spirit said it had pizza. What spirit? Its a large pepperoni with cheesy stuff crust? And a nice cold soda? And you have choloate cake??? Come on in! Oh crap....