A Visita

I love horror and some flat out just suck but I have been wanting to see this one.

Tyler and Becca are sent to see their grandparents, whom they have never met since Papa and Nana had a falling out with their mother years ago. Some bad blood between them and Mom wants to go on a vacation with her boyfriend so she sends the kids to meet their grandparents for the first time. They live on a rural farm in the middle of nowhere with no cell service and little internet access.

At first they seem like a normal old couple but soon after it becomes obvious something is off esp with Nana. They maintain in constant communication with their mother. It is obvious Nana does not like to talk about their mother so the kids are still trying to figure out what the estrangement is all about. Things then get weird! A good solid flick. Great job M. Knight for keeping me entertained and scaring me a little

In my opinion it's not even half as bad as people say it is. The movie is first of all entertaining which is one of the reasons why you would watch it? But also it is well made. The plot is very good and as far as i know original. The way it was filmed was great, any other way wouldn't be the same. I thought the director of this movie was great before and my opinion def didn't change after seeing this one. The acting was good. It says that it's a comedy/horror, you cant really expect to get scared in it like some people complain about. I wouldn't recommend it to a friend but it's worth the watch if you have spare time and don't know what to do with it.

It's hard to talk about any M. Night films these days without discussing his career trajectory, how he started off incredibly strong with a triple knockout of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, only to have his potential squandered, or at least questioned, with films like The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth. As a fan of Shyamalan myself, even I had to admit that he may have lost his luster. With that being said, I'm overjoyed and elated to say that The Visit is Shyamalan's best film since The Village over 10 years ago (my personal favorite). And it's not so bad it's good. The Visit is a legitimately good film, with great performances, terrific setups and even better payoffs, and an overall simple but satisfying story, which is all Shyamalan needs right now.

It's difficult to say much about the story without revealing too much, because The Visit is essentially the type of film where it's better the less you know going in. It's not to say the film is filled with plot twists left and right, but how cleverly it subverts expectations, especially based on the film's misleading marketing campaign. Let this be known: The Visit is a horror AND comedy. It's downright hilarious (intentionally so) during a majority of the film but also equally scary and creepy, which is what M. Night is known for. I was laughing hysterically and screaming, sometimes at the same time! The success of the film is how effectively it jumps in between the two genres and frequently on the dime. The third act showcases this in the best possible way and in full Shyamalan fashion.

Though there are plenty of laughs and screams to be had, The Visit is also filled with surprising moments of drama. There are, at the very least, three genuinely beautiful scenes. One of those involves a zoom in of a certain character, and it's utterly heartbreaking. Credit must be given to Shyamalan who manages to get great performances from his actors, a welcome change after the stilted and wooden performances in his last few films. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould play the leads, and they're completely likable in their roles. Oxenbould, in particular, steals every scene he's in, providing many of the film's biggest laughs. Seriously, the jokes in here are funnier than most comedies released these days. Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie are also rightfully creepy as the kids' offbeat grandparents. Last but not least, Kathryn Hahn leaves a great impression, despite the limited screen time she has. She's truly wonderful here.

Overall, The Visit is ridiculously entertaining and a total crowd pleaser. It's the film we were all hoping for Shyamalan to make to get him out of the slump. No, it's not as great as his first four films, but it's a step towards the right direction. Recently, it's been revealed that he'll reunite with producer Jason Blum and Joaquin Phoenix for a new project. If it's another low budget feature like The Visit, which it most likely will be, we might be witnessing an era of Shyamalascance. After all, going back to basics is his greatest asset right now. Who says horror/comedy can't work?

UPDATE: The film is even better the second time around, and I noticed a lot of details I missed during the first viewing. There's even clever meta humor sprinkled throughout that might not be apparent at first. Additionally, I'd like to put a spotlight on Deanna Dunagan, who I didn't give enough credit to beforehand. She was fantastic. How great and fulfilling it is for an actress her age to have a role that is complicated and complex as is the character of Nana, to be sweet and motherly in one scene only to switch (convincingly) to creepy and insane the next. In one especially dramatic scene, you will even ache for her. Only if you stop to think will you notice the many layers Dunagan has to play with, and for that reason, she should be praised.

This is Shayamalan's second film after the Last Airbender fiasco. It's a return to his light horror and small, contained story roots. The acting and script were good, and combined with the hand-held mockumentary conceit it felt very real. If you like Shayamalan movies and scary movies about crazy old people, give it a try.

when i heard the new shyamalan movie was going to be a horror comedy, i was a little down since I have really liked his approaches to the horror and specially his close analysis to family interaction, and sociology in general, for example I do not believe that "the village" was about the creatures at all, it was a deep exploration of the American red fear, and in general all his movies have been amazing for me for that simple reason, he doesn't try to deliberately scare people with the popular way of making you jump in your sit, but tries to make you understand, using horror as an excuse, the way humans think, and what scares us the most of all, in this movie, the excuse is simple, gain the strength to overcome the fears of the past, and using them to overcome an even more difficult situation in present, emotional as it might be, and scary as it might be, a director that can fuse all these elements, in such a scary way, will never be a bad one, and i do consider him a very good indie director...