Director Richard Stanley started out a career as a music video director and then he directed two cult classics (HARDWARE and DUST DEVIL) before his career as a feature filmmaker was derailed by being fired off THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, but he also had another career of directing documentaries over the years with the latest being THE OTHERWORLD (which came out in 2013).   It explores an area in Southern France known as The Zone (some fans of the film STALKER will think it relates to that movie, but this isn’t that Zone) where weird phenomena of possible supernatural nature of odd magnetic nature converge over the centuries and home to religious people with their own beliefs.  The Zone includes Montsegur (home to a Cathar massacre centuries ago and possible portals to the past), Rennes-Le-Chateau (might be the home of the Holy Grail), and Bugarach (which attracts doomsday cults and the mountain may be home to alien spaceships).  Director Richard Stanley first became aware of the area through his research for THE SECRET GLORY documentary and it intensified when he started to having his own experiences when visiting the area.  His first hand accounts of those incidents are also part of THE OTHERWORLD along with the history of the area and interviews with people who live there now (and those who have visited The Zone).    This documentary is very cinematic in its approach with its wonderful cinematography that beautiful highlights this area of France.  I would really like to see Stanley do another feature film, but his documentaries are a worthy substitute for fans of HARDWARE and DUST DEVIL.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Seven deleted scenes split up into two sections which features additional material cut from the final version of the documentary

 

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR is a 33 minute making-of featurette that goes behind the scenes of filming THE OTHERWORLD and you see how Richard Stanley created some sequences and got some of the aerial shots from above

 

Theatrical trailer for THE OTHERWORLD

 

Also included in the first 2500 copies is a bonus DVD that features three of Richard Stanley’s other documentaries with audio commentaries and new introductions for each of them:  VOICE OF THE MOON, THE WHITE DARKNESS, and THE SECRET GLORY (which happens to be one of his more fascinating documentaries which focuses on Otto Rahn and his quest for The Grail)

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE OTHERWORLD is a fascinating documentary which is partially a head trip.  I would recommend it to people who like watching stuff regarding the paranormal and fans of Richard Stanley’s feature films.

 

This review is ©9-8-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Wend all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com