14
Mar/13

THE SCARY ’70s: THE OTHER

14
Mar/13

Grandma Ada (Uta Hagen) harbors quite a secret in Robert Mulligan’s creepy THE OTHER

WAVERLY MIDNIGHTS: THE OTHER (Robert Mulligan, 1972)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, 12 midnight
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com

Twins Niles (Chris Udvarnoky) and Holland (Martin Udvarnoky) do everything together, playing around their family’s farm with a reckless abandon that gets them into a lot of trouble — especially when they leave a body or two lying around. Their mother (Diana Muldaur) has become sort of a walking zombie since the sudden death of her husband, so their grandmother, Ada (Uta Hagen), watches out for the kinder. Ada has taught Niles to play what she calls the Game, which involves psychic phenomena, but the Game goes bad very quickly. Director Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird, Summer of ’42) keeps things very creepy, especially as Niles tries to understand what makes Holland do the things he does. The screenplay is by Thomas Tryon, based on his bestselling novel. The boys’ uncle, Rider, is played by a young John Ritter, while Victor French, Agent 44 on Get Smart and Mark Gordon on Highway to Heaven, is Angelini the handyman. The Other is screening on March 15 & 16 as part of the IFC Center’s Waverly Midnights series “The Scary ’70s,” which continues March 22-23 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy, March 29-30 with Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, and April 5-6 with Nobuhiko Obayashi’s cult classic House.