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Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies, The Walking Dead) and Michael (Jeremy Sisto, Wrong Turn) are an American couple settled in India, but tragedy strikes them. In a car accident, Maria is forced to saved only one of her two children, resulting in her young son being killed. With regret consuming her, Maria goes into a deep depression. Concerned for her suicidal thoughts, the family housekeeper (Suchitra Pillai) tries to help her cope.
She tells Maria to take her son’s ashes to a secluded South Indian temple where it’s believed the living and the dead meet. Maria will be able to have a final conversation and say goodbye to him, but she must not open the door. I don’t believe I’m ruining anything, when I say this, but…she does, in fact, open her door. She does not find the same son waiting for her on the other side.
Since the first act of the film is driven by action, Roberts knows that his audience would be able to guess the rest of the story, therefore he omits a fair amount of dialogue. While this approach works, what is left in the movie does not have the energy or flow that maintains the attention of the audience. The score was done by Joseph Bishara who worked on the Insidious and The Conjuring franchises and the cinematography is done by Maxime Alexandre from The Hils Have Eyes and Maniac which definitely added value to the movie.
Myrtu the ancient gate keeper of the underworld is the saving grace of the movie. Having four arms and a body built for creepiness, she disjointedly crawls around like Samara from The Ring. Myrtu was played by Javier Botet who is considered the best when it comes to creatures. Sadly, myrtu has been given a small role with two scenes leaving her epic portrayal drowned under a pool of shadows and editing. Similarly lesser known Aghori tribe which is famous for covering themselves in revenant ashes and devouring the deceased were also unreasonably put to waste.
The Walking Dead viewers should have known Callies would nail this emotional role. I found it hard to believe that she does not seem to question the absurd idea of interacting with her deceased child, but she was desperate and vulnerable. Sisto makes a fine dramatic turn in the few bits in which he is used, but his character ultimately impacts the plot very little.
The movie’s Blu-ray release is missing special features; the most substantive inclusion is deleted scenes. In addition to excised material, they include a couple of extra bits of needless blood. There is certainly nothing that couldn’t be in an R-rated movie, so I wonder why those cuts were made. The only behind-the-scenes commentary that we get is from a two-minute segment, posted online before the release. A still gallery and the trailer make up the rest of the extras.
The Other Side of the Door provides a few jump scares and creepy moments, however, it lacks focus and is quite dull. I do appreciate seeing studios dare to try making their own R-rated horror film, especially with a foreign culture added, but this is one where the door should have been left shut.
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