The Other Side

I love scary films, I was lucky enough to see a pre release showing of this one. I loved almost everything about it, the special effects look amazing and very high budget, the gore is absolutely amazing and the plot is gripping and clever.

The only down side for me was that there was too much of a focus on religion. Not everyone is a Christian, and I don't think that you can appeal to a mass audience with such an emphasis on it. Other than that it was perfect. The acting is great, especially from the leading man, and the cop is really hot.

I'm delighted that this will be shown at Sundance, I think we can probably expect to see amazing things from this Director.

Don't expect a masterpiece. Please. The Other Side is entertaining, semi-original, and for the most part, well acted. Some of the scenes could have been removed, some of the actors could have been replaced, but honestly, with such a low budget, the crew/cast did a great job. The main character especially was well done. His relationship with his girlfriend was portrayed well in some parts but came off a little cheesy in others. Most other low budget horror movies are based around sex scenes/nudity and gore which detracts from the plot a great deal. The Other Side does not indulge in this cliché and is, in this reviewers opinion, a breath of fresh air in a stale genre.

Competently produced but uninspired indie that has inexplicably garnered some fantastic write-ups. This is basically a SciFi channel picture original except it doesn't want to make you kick anybody in the face but so what? The filmmakers basically made a Jesus-flick type movie so if you watch this thinking it's going to be "Hell's Escapees vs Demon Bounty Hunters" and non-stop action with sh*t blowing up, you're gonna be hella disappointed; they basically shove that into the back ground after the first half hour and the movie turns into a Lifetime Network "women's mystery" that will try your patience something awful. This up there with Joe Caranhan's BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS & OCTANE as one of the inexplicable Park City hits that makes you worry about all the thin air up there that's turning everybody into mush-headed idiots. If you end up renting this, just prepare to be underwhelmed. SKIP IT.

I am writing this from the viewpoint that this movie was made for $15,000 not from the perspective that it was made for a Hollywood Blockbuster budget. For that budget, this is probably the best movie I have ever seen. Normally, I would have expected this would have cost about $200,000 to make.

As for the movie, it begins as a manic mess. The cuts are mostly just a blur. Some of them are on screen long enough to actually see. Some aren't. I am not a fan of cuts of less than 2 seconds. The brain cannot comprehend and remember anything shorter so it is a waste of film. A lot of film time was wasted with too-short cuts.

The story comes together after all the short cuts, slowly. After about 30 minutes, you finally have some idea of what the film is about. I prefer having some backstory up front. Yeah, it is old-school-routine but it was routine for a reason, and that reason has not gone away: To involve the viewer. Without it, some people will just hit stop and walk away wondering what they wasted the time and blacklist the writer/producer/director. Not a good thing.

To the good side, the cinematography was good. Lighting and sound were good. This is Hollywood quality production for cheap. Good job. Just the story is a little wonky but we can live through that. Somewhat like Chain Reaction, it is a big chase movie with a small mystery plot to hold the scenes together. And they tip the ending way too early.

The most interesting and original idea is that there is a back door to hell and people can get out. Interesting, if there were such a place.

The worst part of this movie and many others is that the dialog is too soft and the music is too loud. In the theaters, it is probably illegally loud. At home, it means constantly jacking the sound up and down. Really annoying. -1 star for extreme dynamic range.

Summary: Worth a watch. Exceptional for the budget!!

No pun intended - Gregg Bishop: he did one of the funniest zombie comedies I have seen: Dance of the Dead. He did not write the script for that one and Jaime Alexander was not part of that either (the latter being a bit sad - at least for me). She seems to be a bit of a go to woman for him, has appeared in a few things he did - one of them being this one right here.

That said, the movie is a bit ... well there may be a bit too much cutting, a bit too much story. It is tough to follow and there are too many characters for its own good. I assume it was well intended, but it is quite confusing at times. Where (or when) are we? And what is the movie trying to tell us? Not to mention the weird (almost non reaction) to people doing stuff that normal humans are not able to do ... if this is supposed to tell us that what we see is not real ... well the movie does not the best job in being clear about it.

Still there is something interesting here - and if you forgive the flaws and all the insanity that is going on .. you can be entertained ... maybe even understand what the movie is trying to tell us/you.