M.
Night Shyamalan has become one of the most notorious directors of the past
twenty years, hasn’t he? He got into the spotlight strongly with “The Sixth
Sense,” a film so successful it got him nominated for the Best Director and
Best Original Screenplay Oscars. He followed up that success with “Unbreakable”
and Signs,” but then things started to go downhill when he got to “The Village”
and “Lady in the Water.” To be fair, the two films weren’t bad, but they were
nowhere near as good as his first three films. Then came “The Happening,”
“After Earth,” and of course, “The Last Airbender”…need I say more?
After
he kept delivering bad film after bad film, it seemed like there was no hope of
Shyamalan going back to the good grace he was best known for. So as you can
imagine, when the trailers for “The Visit” started popping up, I was looking
forward to seeing how bad it would be, and ready to make fun of it. Then you
hear about the different cuts of the film about how one cut was an art house
film, another cut being a comedy, and the cut that we got being a thriller. And
while I did have fun making jokes at the film, “The Visit” is actually not that
bad of a movie. Let me explain:
The
film tells of two kids, Rebecca and Tyler, who go to visit their grandparents
for the week. During their visit, they notice bizarre things happening with
their grandmother, mostly around the night time when she seems practically
homicidal. Now the kids must survive the week and try to put the pieces
together on what the hell is up with their grandparents.
With
it being a found footage movie, you think it’d just be another film in the
genre that is done solely to be part of the gimmick, but it actually isn’t. “The
Visit” actually gives a strong reason for it being found footage, because
Rebecca does it to make a documentary, to show her mom how Grandma and Grandpa
handle their relationship with the kids, despite it being the first time they’ve
met. It really adds to the suspense and mystery of the film, which is handled
very well. And that’s another thing that works: the suspense. With how the
beginning is set up so calmly, it really lets your guard down for the scares to
be effective on its audience. The scenes at night, the crawling under the
house, Grandpa pummeling a pedestrian, it all manages to work.
The
performances by the cast are also pretty good themselves. The two that play
Rebecca and Tyler do have a likable feel to them, and their chemistry as
brother and sister works out. You got the older sister who sees herself as an
artist film maker, and the little brother who pines to be a rapper (in the
whitest way possible) and add a little flare to the documentary. You do end up
caring about these kids and wish that they do end up getting out alive. The
grandparents also do a fantastic job, as they really switch the dial from being
sweet and caring to downright sadistic. While some of the scenes may seem silly
at first from seeing the trailer, the way they’re executed in the film is
brilliant and occasionally funny.
If there are any major complaints with the film, it would mostly be the twist. It wasn’t bad, but it was easy to see what the twist was going to be a mile away. That and some moments were just cringing, mostly on the disgusting side. Not going to say what it is, but if you’ve seen the film you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
Aside
from that, “The Visit” still manages to be a very interesting horror film. If
you haven’t seen it yet, definitely give it a watch, especially with it being
Shyamalan’s first good film in a long time. The acting’s good, the suspense is
good, and also works as one of the better found footage movies in a long while.
Rating: 7/10
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