I’ve been pissed at M. Night for about a decade now. I try not to hold grudges- forgive and forget and all- but he just constantly picks the scab.
Here’s a guy that started out with so much promise. The Sixth Sense. Fantastic stuff. Modern classic. Unbreakable. Amazing follow up. Great performances. Smart moviemaking.
But he had to do that Twist Ending, didn’t he? That was where he trapped himself. To always perform the same magic trick makes the audience anticipate the reveal. Then you’re doomed. After The Village, his films began to show the fatigue and he created some very stupid films. The muddy mythology of Lady in the Water. Markie Mark running from f’n wind (!!) in The Happening. He ruined, ruined, ruined The Last Airbender.
And the thing that pisses me off the most about Mr. Shyamalan is that he gave himself the nickname Night. Who does that? How to do you roll something like that out? How do you look someone in the face and say, “I need you to start calling me Night. Or M. You can call me M. or Night moving forward.” ?
I do try to go into screenings unbiased but, as you can see, I brought a little baggage to Night’s latest work, The Visit. After so many years of misfires I didn’t expect much. Found footage? Rabid Grannies?
But I am very pleased to announce that The Visit has a very surprising twist that I did not see coming: IT’S ACTUALLY A VERY GOOD MOVIE!!!
Effective, disturbing and downright scary, The Visit overcomes the Found Footage trappings by having answers the pesky little questions like who does the editing and why is there a scary soundtrack building suspense when it’s just home movie footage?
Night provides us with characters that we can care about, something that is very rare in Found Footage as well. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould play sister and brother off to visit their grandparents for a fun-filled week. These kids carry the film and are very likable. There is an emotional backstory provided that gives the creepy parts weight. Great performances from both that sell the movies premise and make you pray that they make out alive.
While Peter McRobbie is fine as Pop Pop, the movie belongs to Deanna Dunagan as Nana. She is absolutely frightening and is giddy about it. Don’t go under the house, kids. Don’t go in the basement and never, never go into Nana’s room at night.
The film is frightening and dramatic but also has a healthy dose of comedy throughout. Night balances these components and makes his best film since Bruce figured out he was dead the entire time.
I give it a solid B +