MoovieGab

fiLmReviEw
THE VISIT [2015, USA - English]

The Visit is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated films in 2015, merely because all of us are almost giving up and dying to find out if it is really writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's comeback. Shyamalan, once dubbed as “The Next Spielberg” back in 2002, was heavily mocked for his last few misfires including Lady In The Water (2006), The Happening (2008) and The Last Airbender (2010).

The grim fairy tale starts off with teenager Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her 13-year-old brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) traveling to a remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip to visit their grandparents whom they've not met before because the grandparents have been estranged from their mother (Kathryn Hahn) for 15 years. After watching, I'm glad to say that this film definitely signals a welcome return to form for Shyamalan. He has gone back to basics, the story and its scale are practically stripped down, allowing him to fully focus on what he does best, to thrill and to scare.

Although The Visit takes the form of the found-footage film, something which would seem to have been entirely exhausted at this point (not to mention countless films using such an approach but did it so poorly you'd question each angle), Shyamalan pulled it off. Most (if not all) the scenes are believable, and you can tell he has put in a lot of thought into how each of the footage would appear to give the most chilling effect.

Now, back to the story. Although I find all the main characters' performances good, it's the grandparents who take the show. Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie are every bit familial yet terrifying in their portrayal as Nana and Pop Pop. Watching them morph from strange to morbid, both the seniors walk a fine tightrope between warm and utterly ghastly. Their back and forth is the most unnerving aspect of the film, and the most important. Shyamalan shared that the film intends to invoke the primal fear within all of us about growing old and indeed to me it was the journey of the children witnessing of their grandparents' bizzare deterioration which makes audience relate and cringe at a very effective level.

Lastly, something which bothered me from the beginning. I've always had problems with horror and comedy, in one. To me it's never meant to be and it's just a suicide attempt. The fact that The Visit contains almost as much humor as horror is testament to Shyamalan’s willingness to challenge the conventions. Co-producer Jason Blum shared "I think it's a very hard thing to do - it's definitely a scary thriller, with very funny moments. Horror-comedies to me are not scary. We talked a lot about getting that tone exactly right. To me that fun and laughs in the movie make the scares and the thrills bigger." Did it work? It made me laugh. Most importantly it didn't make the film stupid, and that's a monumental achievement. But it just doesn't resonate entirely that well with me, it remains somewhat of a "barrier" for a solid and effective horror. What I did appreciate was the effect achieved when they blend in elements of classic grim fairy tales like Hansel & Gretel, that was brilliant. And like all fairy tales, there is a positive message behind the story towards the end.

Rating : B-

‪#‎TheVisit‬ ‪#‎TheVisitMovie‬ ‪#‎mNightShyamalan‬ ‪#‎JasonBlum‬‪#‎OliviaDeJonge‬ ‪#‎EdOxenbould‬ ‪#‎KathrynHahn‬ ‪#‎DeannaDunagan‬‪#‎PeterMcRobbie‬ ‪#‎movieReview‬ ‪#‎FilmReview‬ ‪#‎movies‬ ‪#‎films‬ ‪#‎horror‬‪#‎thriller‬ ‪#‎comedy‬