225BatonRouge.com

Back in 2001 The Others suffered from unfortunate comparisons to The Sixth Sense and never really got its due as a slow-building suspenseful mood piece, more spiritually aligned with the darker side of Hitchcock than the pulpy Scream-style slasher trash that was much more popular at the time and has been parodied to death since—hello, Scary Movie 4? But what makes The Others work as a film, and a perfect Halloween rental, is Alejandro Amenábar’s skilled direction that relies less on special effects and more on accomplished acting and unseen dread, Nicole Kidman’s prim and icy performance as a mother caring for her afflicted children, and a handful of unique character quirks and plot constructions that turn the twists of the movie both delightful and devious.

For a nightmare after Christmas, horror fans are already clamoring for details and clips of the upcoming Pan’s Labyrinth, due in theaters Dec. 29. Written and directed by Blade II honcho Guillermo del Toro, the movie is set in rural 1940s northern Spain. In this morbid, sordid take on Alice In Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, a young girl must come to grips with the Post-war repression that surrounds her everyday existence by creating an imaginary world of escape. panslabyrinth.com.