M. Night
Shyamalan self produced The Visit so
that he would have complete creative control, implying that his long string of
failures had been due to studio meddling. So here is The Visit, presented as the filmmaker intended and allowing the
audience to see his true artistic vision, and I’m still not impressed. Although
Shyamalan proves that he is able to shed the self-seriousness for a bit of
playful genre filmmaking, his abilities as a director are still vastly
overwhelmed by his inability to write a deserving screenplay in over a decade.
Cashing in on
the low budget format of the found footage style of horror film for the first
time, The Visit is the faux
documentary made by pre-teens Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould)
on a trip to meet their grandparents for the first time. They leave their
mother (Kathryn Hahn) behind because of a mysterious fight she had with her
parents as a teenager, and plan to spend a week alone getting to know their
grandparents, Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie). Everything
seems to be going well, until the kids begin noticing some disturbing behavior
from their grandparents, especially in the evening.
Some of this
unexplained nighttime behavior can easily begin to resemble any number of the Paranormal Activity films, though
Shyamalan’s withholds any revelations for his final twist, leaving the question
of supernatural activity a mystery. It seems that he cheats at points, just to
keep the uncertainty alive in the audience, though ultimately the reveal lands
like the punch-line to a bad campfire horror story. That’s not to say that the
experience can’t be enjoyable under the right circumstances, but it doesn’t
offer much to be frightened of on retrospection. It is a bit like horror with
the training wheels on; a film I can imagine being frightened of at the age of
the characters playing the protagonists.
While this film
is nowhere close to being a masterpiece, it lands a bit further up on the scale
than the disasters of Shyamalan’s recent filmography. The Blu-ray release of
this simple little thriller comes with a DVD and Digital HD copies of the film
as well. Special features have additional footage, including an alternate
ending and deleted scenes. There is also a making-of featurette and a gallery
of Becca’s photos.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
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