The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 14, 2016

There’s probably no worse tragedy a family can experience than the death of a child, and that kind of trauma has informed any number of horror or at least supernaturally tinged films (e.g., Godsend). The Other Side of the Door traffics in much the same territory as this curious subgenre, and in fact the film’s biggest stumbling block may be that it simply doesn’t do very much new and/or innovative with the premise of an emotionally overwrought mother trying to right an unimaginable wrong. The Other Side of the Door tends to utilize creaky techniques like jump cuts with booming LFE, though it does offer a somewhat palpable mood, one that emanates naturally from the discomfort most parents watching the film will feel simply because the story deals with the death of a child.

The Other Side of the Door also kind of strangely deals in a kind of quasi-Sophie's Choice dilemma, one which informs the guilt that mother Maria (a commendable Sarah Wayne Callies) feels after her son is killed in India. The entire plot revolves around a supposed portal between the living and dead that Maria is warned not to mess with. Well, guess what she does? You’ll probably be able to also guess most of what happens next, which includes all sorts of cascading horrors that ensue, as well as a predictable “twist” at the end.

The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Other Side of the Door is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists this as having been digitally shot with the Red Epic, and the look here is consistently well detailed, especially in the many extreme close-ups. Some of the sequences in the spooky temple suffer from murk and at least intermittently deficient shadow detail. Some of the CGI tends to be on the soft side as well, at least when compared to the generally sharp appearance of the rest of this presentation.

The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Other Side of the Door features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers good surround activity and the requisite LFE accompanying sudden visual scares. Dialogue is well supported and everything is well prioritized, with no problems of any kind to report.

The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 7:41)


• Behind the Door (1080p; 1:55)


• Gallery (1080p; 2:13) offers both Auto Advance and Manual Advance options. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:55)

The Other Side of the Door Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Other Side of the Door's somewhat exotic subtext is its most defining attribute, and it's in this quasi-mythological realm that the film finds most of its unsettling emotional impact. The plot mechanics are resolutely predictable, though, leaving most of the scares to emanate from tried and true horror film tactics. Technical merits are strong for those considering a purchase.