Richard Stanley has always marched to the beat of a unique drum. He hasn’t made very many narrative films (Hardware, Dust Devil) since arriving at the turn of the ’90s, but he has always fascinated due to his quirky spirit and dedication to the odd and unusual. And so it goes that his documentary The Otherworld (2013) follows a path true to his nature, but is shot with a touching sense of humanity in its look at strange phenomena and the people who embrace it.
The Otherworld is Stanley’s journey to an area of southern France he dubs “The Zone”; a place that holds many mysteries, especially to the folks that inhabit the land tucked away in the Pyrenees Mountains. Montsegur, Bugarach, and especially Rennes-Le-Chateau are regions and townships filled with fascinating characters and mystique necessary to elevate the material beyond a gorgeous travelogue, which it most definitely is as well.
For instance, there’s the gent who sees the image of Mary Magdalene burnished in a gnarled tree, or the man with photo albums of unidentified “orbs” (who also provides more convincing video footage). But the film’s greatest asset is an individual named Uranie, a beaming, skeletal figure with a deep obsession for astral geometry; every map of the area lined and leading to perfect pentagrams that he believes hold the answers to the region's many unanswered questions. He also has a penchant for stringing up Fulci artwork and video boxes to keep away evil spirits from a proclaimed gateway to Hell, in case anyone doubts his bona fides.
Stanley himself and his partner Scarlett Amaris add their own stories to his narration, in particular an earlier encounter with a female apparition that has drawn them back to the region to find out their particular truth. And that’s really what the film is: various people (who register at varying degrees of sanity) speaking with total earnestness, their own truths.
Which isn’t to say that all the talk of Cathars and Templars and the Holy Grail doesn’t raise any eyebrows; on the contrary, it provides many instances of bemusement at the lengths that people will go to hang onto their beliefs no matter how outlandish they may seem. Okay, so that’s really what the film is about: people not only speaking about their beliefs, but having the courage to live out their convictions as well.
And to be fair, most of the interviewees seem fairly normal by society’s standards, even when they’re discussing specters or portals to other dimensions or beings from other planets. The only one who seems to be occupying the same wavelength as the subject matter is Uranie, who admits that he has been hospitalized several times for his own mental health, and yet always comes back to his land to protect himself and others from any potential danger.
Through every interview and sincere pseudo re-enactment, Stanley lets you into this strange corner of the world to share experiences. Yes, this is a documentary, but it isn’t about finding answers; it’s about the searching. And that’s more than enough when the characters, subject matter, and setting are this engaging.
Severin Films never leaves one wanting, if at all possible, and once again they come through. On the special edition (available for the first 2,500 units) Blu-ray there’s a bonus DVD that has three of Stanley’s documentaries very pertinent to the subject at hand: Voice of the Moon, The White Darkness, and The Secret Glory look through the cultural prisms of Afghanistan, Haiti, and the Nazis' search for the Holy Grail, respectively. If you enjoy the mesmerizing tone of The Otherworld, these are essential to have.
Moving on to the Blu-ray itself, there is “The Other Side of the Mirror” featurette, taking you behind the scenes with Stanley, Amaris, and the crew, and it is worth it alone just to witness some of the most breathtaking landscapes the world has to offer. Rounding out the package are two deleted scenes and a trailer.
What does The Otherworld offer? Well, if you’re in desperate need of a fix from your favorite cinematic shaman, it will more than do the trick. But in addition to a closer look at the unexplained and the whispered desires of the long forgotten, it shows the humanity that breathes life into these tales, whether they’re true or not. Every story needs a teller, and Severin Films' The Otherworld has a bounty to feast on.
Movie Score: 4/5, Disc Score: 4/5
Scott Drebit lives and works in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is happily married (back off ladies) with 2 grown kids. He has had a life-long, torrid, love affair with Horror films. He grew up watching Horror on VHS, and still tries to rewind his Blu-rays. Some of his favourite horror films include Phantasm, Alien, Burnt Offerings, Phantasm, Zombie, Halloween, and Black Christmas. Oh, and Phantasm.
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