VOD Review: The Other Side of the Door (2016)

"This is why we can't have nice things... in India."

(aka The Scary Door.)
Release Date: March 11th.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera.
Directed by: Johannes Roberts.
Starring: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky, Logan Creran, and Javier Botet.

Like most Supernatural Thrillers that make it to theaters here in the U.S., The Other Side of the Door has a predictable plot, utilizes a ton of jump-scares, and really never pushes the boundaries it should to make it a truly memorable effort.

It's also not a bad movie at all.

Michael and Maria, expecting their first child, decide to move to India, because they're big Bollywood fans, and they just can't get enough curry in their lives in America. Years later, after the tragic death of their son Oliver, the couple, along with their young daughter, Lucy, wonder if becoming ex-pats and moving to India was such a great idea after all.

"WHY IN THE HELL DID WE MOVE HERE?"

Maria is overcome with grief over the death of her son to the point of trying to kill herself. Noticing this, their live-in housekeeper, Piki Boo, tells Maria that there's a way that she can say goodbye to her son and find some closure by the way of an ancient ritual; there's a temple in the remote Indian countryside that allows someone to scatter the ashes of their loved ones in front of a door, wait until nightfall, and their spirit will appear on the other side of the door. You can talk to them, but you can't open the door, or else ghosts will kill you. Maria swears that she will not open the door.

SHE'S GOING TO OPEN THAT DOOR, ISN'T SHE?

Of course Maria opens the door, because she's a weak-willed American who doesn't care to pay heed to the superstitions of the wise locals of Mother India, which opens up the gateway to the ghost dimension, which allows ghosts (and a Demon) through, which allows them to try and kill Maria and her family.

A bunch of "You've seen it all before" Haunted House tropes ensue. 

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE?

The Other Side of the Door is a solid, if predictable Horror flick. It's light on scares, and it's nothing that we haven't seen dozens of times before, but somehow we found it fairly enjoyable. The setting was interesting, as were the Supernatural goings-on, and everything was well-handled on a technical level. The Demon, played effectively by [REC]'s own Javier Botet, was pretty cool too, although it didn't get near enough screen time.

It just wasn't as scary as it should have been.

Maybe it's the fact that we love Sarah Wayne Callies from her days on The Walking Dead, or that we're big fans of Jeremy Sisto (who sadly doesn't get much to do here) that made us enjoy this one on a base level. I'm not really sure what it was, but we found this to be a serviceable effort overall.

WHAT IS ROB ZOMBIE DOING THERE?

The main problem with The Other Side of the Door is that it's exactly the kind of thing you expect from the average PG-13 Horror flick, even though it's got an R-Rating. It's safe, tame, overly-familiar and predictable, and there's a really great, potentially terrifying movie in there somewhere that is never fully realized.

It's also the kind of movie where the main character (in this case, a grieving mother), makes a series of foolish decisions that puts the lives of everyone around her in danger, all because she's so overwrought with grief. I get that grief can crush a person, and make them do all sorts of irrational things, but that kind of shit gets really old as a plot device.

And that ending... really?

YEAH, READ YOUR GHOST SON A BEDTIME STORY. SOUNDS RATIONAL.

Why the dog. He was the only one who knew what was going on, and he was trying to warn you the whole time. Why him!?!

"TIME TO GO, HOUSE-PISSER!"

A little bit of blood and and some impressive FX here and there, but nothing to write home about.

HOW DOES SHE NOT SEE THAT THING? OR HEAR IT? OR SMELL IT?

Nope.

DON'T YOU POINT AWAY FROM US IN ANGER, SARAH!

Americans need to stop moving to other countries, or even visiting them, as Horror movies have shown us over and over again that traveling abroad will only lead to certain death!

THE GHOST OF BOB MARLEY WATCHES OVER THE CHILDREN.

If you like your Supernatural Thrillers a bit on the above-average side of things, then The Other Side of the Door is probably one that you'll want to check out. There's no new ground being broken here, and you've seen it all before, but if you don't need bold originality every time you watch a Horror flick, this one will do you right.

C+

The Other Side of the Door is available now on VOD, and will hit Blu-ray & DVD on June 7th.

Sarah Wayne Callies may be the best Horror Milf of our generation. At the very least, she's in the running.