Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org
The Visit is a new horror film that is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie tells the tale of two siblings, Becca and Tyler, who are sent by their mother to their grandparents’ house for a one week visit. The point of the visit is for the siblings to finally meet their grandparents and to bond with them. However, as days go by, things start to get hectic, since the grandparents act in a strange and creepy manner after 9:30 pm. This makes the siblings question whether they will make it out of the house alive.
Upon seeing the trailer for this movie, I did not have very high expectations. I was once a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan because he has made brilliant movies in the past such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. Ever since then, his career went downhill. He started making large budget blockbusters that were really disappointing. I am so happy to say that The Visit is undoubtedly Shaymalan’s best movie in over a decade.
The Visit is a horror movie that has plenty of scares. There is one scene that involves the children playing hide and seek in a shed, which was terrifying. The scenes that take place after 9:30 pm are the ones that really stuck with me after the movie was over.
There also is a lot of comic relief in this movie and, because of some of the dialogue and the characters’ comedic timing, there is a lot of humor that genuinely works. There were times that I was on the edge of my seat and times that I could not help but laugh because Tyler, the grandson, has perfect comedic timing. I was also surprised in how much dramatic heft was in the movie. There are certain scenes in which the history of the grandparents’ lives are talked about and there are some touching scenes that had a great effect on the movie. The drama never seemed melodramatic or clichéd. It seemed as if it was believable.
I would go more in depth with what made the movie pretty solid, but for this review, specifically, I would like to write as little as possible because the less you know about the movie, the more you will enjoy it. The Visit is a well-acted movie that has solid directing as well as a blend of humor and horror that works for the most part. This is certainly a comeback for Shyamalan. It isn’t necessarily a home run, but it’s a solid hit. If Shyamalan continues to do movies in a low budget scale and sticks to his roots, he could regain the career that once made him great.
