The Other (1972)

Set in the summer of 1935 in a rural country home, a pair of twin brothers (Chris and Martin Udvarnoky) amuse themselves while their recently widowed mother (Diana Muldaur) suffers from depression. But the brothers have different personalities, one is a typical ten year old kid while the other shows sociopath tendencies. Based on the best selling novel by Thomas Tryon and directed by Robert Mulligan (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD). It's fairly easy to quickly guess the film's "twist" which comes at around the one hour mark so there's not much suspense value. As far as "evil child" movies go, this one is slightly better than THE BAD SEED but not as good as THE OMEN. To the movie's credit, it doesn't embarrass itself like THE BAD SEED did (that ending!) but for a psychological thriller, it's surprisingly tedious. Tryon himself disliked the film. The acclaimed stage actress Uta Hagen makes her film debut at 52 here as the twins' Russian grandmother. The underscore by Jerry Goldsmith lifts the film a bit. With John Ritter, Jenny Sullivan and Portia Nelson.