Where has the horror genre gone? It's all but dead and buried. Aside from Blair Witch Project, I haven't seen a horror flick that comes close to being innovative. A couple years back, The Sixth Sense took the box office by storm with it's story of a young boy helping ghosts cope with their new life style. Although I enjoyed that film immensely, I always looked at it as a drama with supernatural elements. Sadly, The Sixth Sense has raised the bar for such films. Because of it's unexpected ending, you come to expect a twist from film's of it's type. Look at Stir of Echoes, the nifty little thriller starring Kevin Bacon. That picture was hurt, no doubt, by a bad case of Sixth Sense backlash. Enter the new ghost story The Others starring Nicole Kidman. A film that not only rivals The Sixth Sense, but is even better in many ways.

Set during the last days of World War II, Kidman plays Grace, a high strung woman awaiting the return of her husband, who's off to battle. She spends her days caring for her two children and tending to her Victorian mansion on the Isle of Jersey. Grace lives in a world of darkness, literally. Her children have an affliction to sunlight so Grace is forced to keep the shades drawn at all times. To further complicate matters, it seems that there are strange intruders within the mansion. Grace's precocious daughter Anne claims to have seen a young boy in the middle of the night while little Nicholas swears he's hearing strange noises. Of course their mother doesn't believe in such nonsense until she too notices strange goings on.

This is another great performance from Kidman who projects a slight craziness without ever going over the top. With terrific turns in Eyes Wide Shut and Moulin Rouge, this makes three in a row for the actress. Youngsters Alakina Mann and James Bentley are also convincing as Kidman's curious children. Fionnula Flanagan is creepy and wise as the new nanny.

Writer/Director Alejandro Amenabar (who also composed the film's moody score) emerges as an extremely gifted storyteller. Some have complained that The Others is derivative and slow moving. I disagree. Although the picture is deliberately paced, it's hardly boring. This movie is eerie and haunting and although it doesn't move like a freight train, it's quite compelling every step of the way, and leaves the audience in a sort of unsettling dream state.

Thankfully, Amenabar isn't interested in CGI monsters. This is more psychological and the film maker gets a lot of mileage out of beautiful cinematography and fantastic lighting. The mansion itself also plays a big part in this picture. Not since The Shining has the setting of a movie been so ominous and creepy.

Oddly, this film was executive produced by Tom Cruise who recently separated from Kidman. Stranger still, is the fact that Cruise's next picture (Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky) was based on a foreign film directed by Amenabar. It gets weirder. That particular movie starred Penolpe Cruz (also in Vanilla Sky) who is now seeing Tom Cruise. You got all that? It's completely irrelevant but interesting nonetheless.

The Others is a classic ghost story from beginning to end. Many complained that The Sixth Sense was just tedious melodrama with a grand pay off. I encourage those people to see The Others. This picture probably has what you felt was lacking in that movie.

As a scarefest, The Others has already been endorsed by such horror heavyweights as Clive Barker and Wes Craven, so don't just take my word for it.

On a strange sidenote, August is usually a month reserved for the worst of summer fare. In a bizarre twist, Aug. 2001 has seen the release of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Osmosis Jones and now The Others. These are three pictures I really enjoyed. It should be noted, however, that I have yet to see American Pie 2. At any rate, go check out The Others. It's creepy, bleak and extremely entertaining. It's easily one of the best films of the year.