Sometimes you’ve just got to walk away…

The Others (available on DVD & Blu-Ray tomorrow) is a sneaky little surprise of a thriller that won’t hesitate to get underneath your skin.

A group of friends think they found the perfect easy score – an empty house with a safe full of cash. But when the elderly couple that lives there comes home early the tables are suddenly turned. As a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues the would-be thieves are left to fight to save themselves from a nightmare they could never have imagined.

While there is no doubting that The Others is mining some well worn material that has come before it, this film has an undoubtedly nasty side to it that just sneaks up on you.

From director Julius Berg and based on the comic Une Nuit de Pleine Lune; The Others is an efficient and creepy little set piece that knows to hammer all the right story beats at exactly the same time.

It looks great and with some incredibly solid production design it gives us the sense of the walls closing in on us which is exactly what it was going for.  Berg is borrowing quite a bit from films ranging from High Tension, Martyrs as well as Hollywood affair like Don’t Breathe and even a little bit of gothic horror from something like The Innocents.  It’s nothing original but it’s a delicate balance that works, almost like an homage of sorts.

The pacing is more than solid and it all works thanks to some very solid performances that really hammer it all home and keep the proceedings lean and most certainly mean.

Maisie Williams is obviously well known from her work on Game of Thrones but she does a solid job of proving here that she can easily carry a film without needing dragon’s to swoop in at any given time.  She’s a legit movie star and we easily buy her as the horror heroine in danger who isn’t afraid to get a little dirt under her fingernails in order to survive the situation.

While I wouldn’t call the rest of the ensemble anything memorable, love has to be given to actors Sylvester McCoy and Rita Tushingham as our titular ‘owners’ as they really bring this movie to the next level with some excellent performances.

It goes without saying that picture and the sound quality on the Blu-Ray are pretty damn good, and the special features include just a quick ‘making of’ on The Owners.

Movies like this are never really meant to reinvent the wheel but The Owners works as well as it does because it knows what it is and focuses on mood rather than splashy visuals.  If you’re looking for something that will unexpectedly allow you to get your freak on, The Owners will be right up your alley.