The Visit

First, let me start off this post with a mostly unrelated rant. 

Why is it that we have arguably one major release this weekend (two I guess if you're including the poorly reviewed, The Perfect Guy) and a slew of four films next weekend? Given how empty the entire month of September is this year, why did Hollywood decide to pack all of its better films against each other in a single weekend? Granted, a couple of them are "limited" releases (just how limited remains to be seen), but it's still aggravating to have to play catch up because studio execs had no clue what they were doing. 

Like I said, not really related to The Visit at all, just something that annoys me about the cadence of this month's releases. 

Anyway, on to The Visit, M. Night Shyamalamadingdong's most recent foray into the art of film making. I probably don't need to remind anyone of this but for those of you who don't know, at one point in the late 90s/early 00s, Shyamalan was one of Hollywood's hottest and most bankable directors. After a minor string of hits, something happened and his films got progressively worse and worse. Soon, he became the butt of jokes, hence the Shyamalamadingdong nickname, and his most recent films, The Last Airbender and After Earth were each two of the most poorly reviewed and received films in the years they released. For many, including myself, the stamp (as can be seen at the top of the poster above) of "From the director of The Sixth Sense and Signs" rang more and more hollow each time I heard it and given the age of those films, with a lot of crap ones in between, it's almost comical that they still hearken back to over a decade ago. 

"I could just eat you up!!"

That immediate negative influence aside, The Visit has looked like a somewhat decent horror film since the initial trailers. It takes something that is human nature for most -- the trust of one's grandparents -- and makes it into a terrifying premise. As reviews began to come in, some hailed it as the triumphant return of Shyamalan (it isn't) and others seemed to simply stamp a highly negative review on the film as if it was one of his worsts (it isn't). Once you wade through the extreme reviews of Shyamalan's fans and haters, what you'll find is a decently constructed horror/thriller, that truly isn't anything special, outside of the fact that Shyamalan actually didn't completely f**k it up. Which, for a director who is trying to make a comeback, is a very solid step in the right direction. 

"I was just cleaning it! I swear!"

What I enjoyed the most about The Visit was the characters. They are all unique and throughout the film we get time to know them, some more than others, and at least to the kids, we become attached. Tyler and Becca (portrayed very well by Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge, respectively) are some superb child actors and while I was a bit annoyed by each of them at the beginning, they're awfully endearing and within about 20 minutes they had grown on me. Their chemistry as brother and sister is strong and it leads to both some touching moments and some laughter. On the flip side, the grandparents are supremely creepy and I applaud both Deanna Dunagan (Nana) and Peter McRobbie (Pop Pop) for giving consistently odd, quirky, and eerie performances. The four core members of this cast really did wonders to make the material work. 

Can you not see the evil
grandmother behind you in the mirror?

And the material is good, don't get me wrong. Shyamalan's usual funny/weird script is still in play, though it seems it was toned down a bit. And his signature twist in this film, while not revolutionary in the effect it has on the film, was still unexpected and helped to immediately explain some loose ends. The horror leans a lot more towards creepy scares, rather than jump scares, but their are ample examples of both. I found the plot device used to justify the hand-held camera work was weak, but I've seen worse, and, as much of a sucker as I am for hand-held horror films, the filming style certainly ratcheted up the scares a couple times. The third act, like most horror films these days, turns into a quick dive into violence rather than horror, but The Visit ties things up nicer than most. A few times I was shocked by some of the film's grosser parts; they are legitimately nasty, but I'm guessing that's the effect Shyamalan was going for. Were they completely necessary? I don't think so, but they did add to the idea of the grandparent's being really weird. 

"I'm gonna git ya!"

Really my only issue with The Visit, aside from some smaller stuff I'll add in the CONS section, is that it's not all that special or memorable. It's a freaky trip to grandma and grandpa's house that is getting significantly more attention because it's a Shyamalan film and because it's his first film in ages that isn't really really bad. I'm not saying I've never blindly followed a director before *cough Christopher Nolan, you're the best cough cough* but despite the attachment of Shyamalan's name, this is a decent horror outing, and really nothing more. 

CONS:

• Not entirely sure that the [really] gross out moments were necessary
• Pretty stupid during-credits scene that is intended to be funny, but completely undermines the finale of the film
• Some odd script moments
• Somewhat average despite the name of the director attached to it
• Poor reasoning for hand-held camera 
• Generic third act

PROS:

• Solid core group of characters
• Good children performances
• Really creepy elderly performances
• Decent scares, both creepy and jumpy throughout
• Some genuinely funny scenes
• Good step in the right direction for Shyamalan to get back on track

Rath's Review Score: 6.5/10