ironhorse_iv Review of The Visit

The Visit (I) (2015)

The Visit is kinda worth visiting. It was an alright movie for the most part.

[6/10 · 27 October 2015]

While, the movie isn't really that funny, or scary. This horror movie written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan was surprising, not that bad. It had the right amount of horror and comedy to make it, somewhat entertaining. The Visit proves once again, that this where Shyamalan belongs. After all, these are the genres that M. Night Shyamalan is known best for. It also helps that the movie was marketed as a small-budget independent film, rather than a huge money blockbuster. This allows, Shyamalan to work harder on the story asset, rather than focusing his time, on over-the-top visual effects. Unlike Shyamalan's recent films, there is an emotional depth to The Visit that is worth seeing, alone. The movie tells the story of contemporary grief/loss and how not to hold on to anger to your loves ones, because you don't know if you'll ever get a chance to forgive/reconcile with them. It's a very strong message that anybody can related to. I really did get invested in the story of a family is trying to recovered, from a recent divorce. Hoping to give their mother, Paula Jamison (Kathryn Hahn) a well-needed vacation with her new boyfriend; two young kids, Thirteen-year-old Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) and 15-year-old Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) agree to spend a week with their grandparents, even though, they never met them. At first, their "Nana" (Deanna Dunagan) and "Pop Pop" (Peter McRobbie), seem fine, but things started to unravel, when night falls. Can the kids survive their week with them, or will something deadly happen? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this movie is clearly not a 'found-footage' movie, like some critics label it. It doesn't have, that raw factor that many found-footage movie, has. First off, the camera visual style isn't that amateurism. There wasn't a lot of blurry shots, shaking cam, or pitch darkness shots. Thank God! I like that the movie was mostly well-shot. Shyamalan uses the style with more creativity than most other filmmakers, displaying his unique visual motif. Some great examples are his use of reflected images for dramatic and thematic effect. Others are his use of intimacy long-takes and how he creates a Mise en scène. Plus, the movie, zig-zagged, heavily, from traditionally In-Universe storytelling camera shots to hand-held. It's felt more Cinéma vérité, with bits of documentary style. It's really hard to bypass this as 'realistic found-footage' movie, when there are credits & day title cards, being shown, throughout the film. It's a bit jarring to see that. However, I get, why it's filmed on a hand-held camera. There is in universe reason for this. It was film, this way, because Rebecca is an aspiring, documentary filmmaker with a big heart. Rebecca wants to document the whole thing as a form of therapy for her mum, whose reasons for the bad blood with her parents remain a tightly-kept secret. The characters themselves are even aware of certain cinematic theories that could make their "documentary" more interesting. They're refreshingly intelligent and self-aware, and they never blunder stupidly into any situation. I also love the straight-to-camera confessions scenes. You really get to see, their desires and anxieties through it. Using this, Shyamalan was able to show, a large range of emotional, within his actors. In my opinion, most of the actors give great performances. The child actors were very likable. The grandparent are downright creepy. However, there were a few things that didn't work for me. I really didn't like how the film establish the kid's phobias. It wasn't use, right. I really don't get, how Becca is afraid of looking at herself on camera, but she's okay, at looking at herself, on Skype. Another thing, why Tyler is afraid of germs, yet, he's willing to play hide and seek, under the dirty stairs. It doesn't make sense. For the grandparents. I really didn't like Grandma's over the top, "alien" theory. Remind me, too much of his previous awful films, 2006's Lady and the Water, and 2002's Signs. Her jump scares and suicide attempts were also pretty lame. It seem, more silly than disturbing. I also didn't like, the poop or cleaning the gun jokes for the Grandpa. It really seem way too cartoony and fell really flat. Nevertheless, I still like their Yahtzee scene. By far, the best part of the film. Some of the grandfather's dialogue, is kinda choppy, and unrealistic in tone, too. The film has also been criticized for its use of dementia equals violent, approach, by other critics; but in my opinion, I just glad, it wasn't cause, by, anything supernatural. Overall: I came into this movie with very low expectations. After all, it's been a while, since director M. Night Shyamalan made an alright movie. While, this movie isn't bad, it wasn't really good. It was pretty mediocre. As much as people might hate him, in my opinion, Shyamalan is a filmmaker whom somewhat deserve a comeback. Hopefully, his next movie will be a masterpiece. Sadly, this movie wasn't it