★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
The Other Side of the Door is a functional, entirely respectable entry into the populist canon of “evil child” horror movies (from The Innocents to The Omen to Orphan). It stars Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori from the TV series The Walking Dead) as Maria, a grieving American mother living in Mumbai. She learns of an esoteric local ceremony that allows temporary access to the spirit world, thus offering a chance to say goodbye to her recently drowned son, Oliver (Logan Creran).
Unfortunately, and naturally (this is a horror movie, after all), Maria messes up the ceremony, leaves the door to the spirit world wide open, and all sorts of undead nasties start to appear on the backstreets of Mumbai.
The location work is vivid and atmospheric (Mumbai, in aerial shots and ground level, has a character presence on screen), if a tiny bit colonial and “ooh, can you hear the native drums?” Meanwhile Callies acts up a storm (often literally — it’s monsoon season) as the steely mom who’s initially delighted when her black-eyed zombie-faced son returns from the dead. Possibly one for a night in with the small screen.
Johannes Roberts, 15, 96min