The Visit

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...

Now I am the first to admit you have to be in the mood for one of M Night Shyamalan's films. He intentionally tries to throw you off guard when you are watching one of hid films, you constantly question if all is as it should be, or quite simply is he messing with you.

I had ignored all info, trailers and chat about this film, as with all his movies once you know what's going on they change somehow, it's the first for a little while of M's films I can say I really enjoyed.

I won't go into too much of the plot, a single woman estranged from her parents receives an online message from them, she allows her two kids, Becca and Tyler to stay with their grandparents for a week. The kids use the experience to make a film, some behaviour they capture is rather inexplicable.

Excellent acting, but it's the kids that steal the show, I really thought they were brilliant.

At one point in the film my heart truly sank, I felt uneasy being the viewer, I felt powerless, and for that reason I give this film an 8, it's been a while since a movie has done that to me. A bit slow for the first twenty minutes, but the ending is worth the wait.

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.

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.

After having spent years squandering the studio money & garnering the wrath of film critics in his past few outings, M. Night Shyamalan takes a break from big-budget productions and decides to return to small-scale projects constrained by shoestring budget in an attempt to rediscover his creative side and with his latest feature, I'd say he has found it.

The Visit tells the story of two siblings who decide to spend a week with their grandparents at their farmhouse while their mother is planning a vacation with her current boyfriend. The two kids, having never met their grandparents in person before, find their company strange at first but as the days pass, they discover a deeply disturbing secret about their hosts.

Written & directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit finds the director away from all sort of studio involvement, thus allowing him to rely on his creativity to overcome the restrictions imposed by its low budget and he does a really good job at it. The film makes use of all his trademarks and successfully blends different genres & shooting techniques into one solidly crafted thriller.

Shyamalan's screenplay isn't bad either. The plot is quite simple, the number of characters are kept to a minimum and all have relevant roles to play in the outcome and it's effectively brought to life on the film canvas. The found-footage camera-work is nicely carried out and its tight editing only helps in establishing an increasingly tense & suspenseful atmosphere, which is brilliantly sustained till the end.

The expected Shyamalan twist is also there, following which the movie becomes somewhat predictable and the pay-off isn't much rewarding. The performances are a definitely plus for the kids waste no time in becoming a nuisance, especially that 13-year old rapping douche, but it's actually their grandparents who leave the most lasting impressions with their eerie renditions, which only gets more menacing as the story nears its end.

On an overall scale, The Visit is a welcome return to form for M. Night Shyamalan after his lengthy string of critical & commercial failures and is a strange mix of horror & comedy that is able to balance the elements of both genres quite nicely. It does create a friction at times but for the most part, the narration is smooth. The few bad decisions taken in the picture lie within the characterisation range and as a whole, The Visit succeeds in delivering a thrilling movie experience, that comes loaded with odd laughs in between.