This is one of the best haunted house movies I've seen in years. The atmosphere it strikes is just perfect and all the performances are top-notch. I especially loved Nicole Kidman's character. She has this air of implacability as the mistress of the house, even when the world as she knows it is coming unraveled.Grace (Kidman) owns a big house in the Channel Islands. Her husband (Christopher Eccleston) left for the war and hasn't yet returned, leaving her to care for their two children, Anne and Nicholas (Alakina Mann and James Bentley). The house must be kept incredibly dark during the day as the children have a rare disorder called Xeroderma pigmentosum, which means that exposure to sunlight could be fatal. As a result, Grace goes to great lengths to explain how things are done to her three new servants, who show up one day out of the blue. That's when everything starts to go wrong. Crying is heard in rooms with no one there, doors open and close on their own, and the children swear steadfastly that they've seen a little boy named Victor. Grace must protect her children from these threats and also confront some very unpleasant truths.
If you've seen the movie before, you'll know what I mean when I say that I really appreciated how it sort of turned the tables on you. It was very fresh and a great change from more rote examples in the genre. The lighting, the music, everything just built on everything else to create a beautiful tapestry of suspense. Even when you know the trick, the movie is a joy to watch. This was my third viewing since I bought it and it's still just as good.
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