The Other Side (2006) – Movie Review

The Other Side (2006), written and directed by Gregg Bishop, was one of those low-budget movies with relatively unknown actors that doesn’t fit neatly into one genre slot. There were horror and action elements – mixed in with a love story – that I think fans of mild horror with supernatural thrills would enjoy. It wasn’t perfect, but it was highly entertaining.

4 stars out of 5

Whether the audience connected with this movie rested almost entirely on whether they liked Sam and cared about his relationship with Hanna. While I wasn’t given a lot of time to emotionally invest in Sam before the bad stuff happened, Bishop did an adequate job later on through hearsay and flashbacks that showed me why I should care.

The story had a strong plot and the twist on whodunit was fun and fit the movie’s theme and atmosphere. With a steady pace and a fair amount of violence, action fans shouldn’t be disappointed. Where the film could fail, for some, was how fast it dug into the action without much character development and, at times, the editing felt choppy. Also, there were a couple scenes that came across a little like info dump.

Oh, and I wasn’t really feelin’ what happened with Oz in the cemetery, but it’s more of a subjective observation, so I won’t taint the review with my feedback there.

Without a doubt, the coolest thing about the whole movie was the Reapers. An interesting concept and, with the money available, they looked rather intimidating and badass. The main male Reaper reminded me of a demon version of the Terminator or the Mummy, not his appearance, his abilities. There was only a momentary bout of disapproval: when the female Reapers were introduced, scantily clad. However, the fems had some wicked kills, and technically they were demons in possession of a body, so I overlooked their lack of clothing.

When I caught sight of the male reaper with the black hat (after he switched), I said out loud, “Ben? From The Signal?” Sure enough, it was Justin Welborn. He doesn’t last long, which was disappointing, but I was happy to see him nonetheless.

Side note: I need to post my review of The Signal – watch it if you haven’t already. Justin’s range is impressive when you compare Ben to, say, Carter in The Final Destination.

There are probably hardcore action or horror fans who will hate this movie, if for nothing else, then definitely because of its ending. I was a little surprised by it but also sad whilst being satisfied.

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s the synopsis:

Award-Winning Writer and Director Gregg Bishop delivers a fast-paced supernatural thriller about Samuel North (Nathan Mobley), who has just been murdered and sent to Hell. There, in “the Pit,” two other damned souls on the run help Samuel escape back to the world of the living to be reunited with the girl he loves. But now, Samuel has Hell to pay: the Netherworld has sent 3 REAPERS (invincible bounty hunters from Hades) to hunt and kill each of the escaped men. Samuel must solve his own murder and fight for his soul’s redemption in order to escape THE OTHER SIDE.

Do you think a person, who lived a “good” life, should be condemned to Hell for a one-time lapse in judgment or crime of necessity?

WEB RESOURCES

The Other Side official site | on IMDb | on Netflix | Purchase from Amazon

(Watched Instantly on 3/12/2010)