Horror movies don't always end well for characters, but there's usually a satisfaction in taking the journey. Every so often, though, the journey is just a downer.

The Other Side of the Door is one of those horror movies in which a grieving parent makes a questionable choice to either resurrect or contact a dead child, with unwanted consequences.  I don’t know if this theme has been used enough to officially make it a thing, but it seems like it has. For horror movie fans, that story line is defined by 1989’s Pet Sematary, with a remake of that title supposedly in the works. The Other Side of the Door is similar to Pet Sematary except it is set in India and I liked Pet Sematary. The resurrection-gone-wrong idea is also used with a cloning spin in 2004’s Godsend and with ancient magic in 2011’s Wake Wood. I’m positive I’ve seen it in low budget movies I’ve forgotten, also.

If a horror movie chooses to go into this darkest spot (and here I’m including not only resurrection scenarios but also heart-wrenching ones where the child dies but does not return all creepified from the grave), it better do so with emotional depth and sensitivity (as done by Steven King in his original book version of Pet Sematary) and not manipulative cliché. Whether you have children or not, the idea of losing a child hits hard, so in the wrong movie hands this pain can be cheaply and cruelly used with irreverence as a one-size-fits-all plot tool to justify almost anything, and I have no patience for that. Loss of a child has long been used as a motivator in revenge movies, and it's also used to explain illogical or stupid behavior. Why else would Lance Henrickson as Ed Harley ever ask an old witch to conjure up the demon Pumpkinhead? (BTW, there is also talk of a Pumpkinhead remake.)

While insignificant, The Other Side of the Door uses a manipulative convention I’ve grown to despise over the years: the sad scene of an idyllic home movie featuring a deceased son/daughter/wife/husband/lover. I’ve seen this used many times, and while occasionally well done, more often it’s done without conviction as an emotional trick to wring out sorrow. Usually the home movie plays on the television, but it has expanded to computers and smart phones. Either we see the person watching with tears as a spouse enters the room, or we see a person asleep from too many pills or booze as scenes of destroyed happiness play. Because variations of this scene are so common, they now feel to me as manipulative as those three-minute commercials featuring sad music and abused animals.

On one side of the door, this movie features a shock scare that turns out to be a bad dream. I’m thinking it’s about time to put away that over-used gimmick for a good long time. At the very least, movies using that trite convention should label themselves with a Zzzzz!! label.

On the other side of the door, though, I was pleased when a scene featuring our lead character washing her face did not end up with her looking up from rinsing to be met with a jump scare in the mirror. Every time I now see mirrors in movies, I’ve been trained to wait for the obligatory one-two-three count – show the mirror, nothing there, show it again, nothing there, show it a third time – GOT YOU!!!

However, back to the side side of the door, early on in the movie we see Bruno the family dog sensing malevolence. I’ll let you guess how it works out for him.

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t even mentioned the story of The Other Side of the Door. I didn’t enjoy this movie at all and I have no desire to deconstruct it – a Google search will bring up reviews you’ll find surprisingly consistent if you need more. Suffice it to say there wasn’t near enough emotional growth, creative story line, or original scares to offset the yuck feeling I got from having a mother's grief down crammed down my throat with reckless disregard. Not even the on-location filming in India offset its bummer factor. As a result, I'm not pairing a beer with this post. Just isn't any celebration here.

As a final note, this movie features a stern but single verbal warning to not open the door, no matter what. I'm thinking if you're messing around with dimensional gateways or unspeakable evils, maybe it's best to discuss consequences and reinforce importance, perhaps even give a class on why you shouldn't open the door or what have you. If you ever implore me to not open a door, go in the basement, step out of the circle, or open my eyes, I promise I'll be more likely to listen if you say "... or you will open an unholy gateway allowing nasty, nasty evil spirits into our dimension that will haunt you, jump out at you at night and eventually kill you." Just a suggestion.

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