Hooptober... And Then There Were Nine

18th Kill

I have no idea how I managed to remain completely ignorant of anything to do with the plot of The Visit, but I'm really glad I was able to come into this cold.

Ever get the feeling M. Night Shyamalan makes every movie just because he wants that moment, that one line that brings everything crashing down around you to reveal the true nature of the situation which we've all been completely misled about? That almost physical sensation of your stomach falling away beneath you, like someone opened a trapdoor underneath you or something, is I believe the one thing that Shyamalan is utterly fixated on.

That's why I will always indulge the guy. Because this is not an easy trick to pull off and, more often than not, he doesn't quite manage it. But, boy, when he does pull it off, he really pulls it off. I don't think this movie is anywhere near as good as The Sixth Sense but that reveal, when it comes? Pretty fucking great, let's face it.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie, while cool in the way it builds up the mystery, has a couple of issues. I just started to get really irritated by our kid protagonists. Especially the boy. His whole rapping schtick really got old FAST. Besides feeling all pretty phoney, it just pushed him totally over the edge of quirky and into annoying. And the worst thing is, I felt like Shyamalan was convinced this kid was the most adorable little dude ever, and we'd all be assured of falling for him. Well, he didn't count on my complete misanthropy, did he? The fool!

Weirdly, good as it is, I really think this premise would be far better suited to a shorter run time - I can imagine this being a great episode of Inside No. 9 or something like that.

Best Kill (may contain traces of spoiler)

Hmmm - I really don't want to give anything away. Let's just say, when the secret is revealed, this movie is almost surprisingly brutal in its presentation of the fallout from the craziness - that's all I'm gonna say.