The Visit trailer continues to be some of the creepier two and a half minutes the horror/suspense genres have seen this year, with two pre-teen kids staying at their not-quite-right grandparents in what appears to be the dead of winter.
As far as that setup goes, most horror fans would be all-in. But it’s important to remember who the guy behind the movie is.
M. Night Shyamalan, director of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable , and a whole lot of movies that don’t matter, has returned to the director’s chair with a self-penned script, and that usually means two things.
1) There will be some type of from-left-field twist; and 2) It will make no sense and probably ruin the entire movie.
That’s what happened with The Village and every film after it, and the results are reflected in declining box office as well as a wave of poor reviews.
Shyamalan, by most accounts, peaked with his fourth film ( Unbreakable ) after a suspenseful and satisfying third ( The Sixth Sense ). Praying with Anger and Wide Awake were his first two, according to IMDb .
Signs was a respectable effort, but it was also the last time you could say that about one of M. Night’s films.
The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, After Earth — all have been critical and financial disappointments, if not losing money showing less life than each of his last efforts in box office gross.
As discouraging as that sounds, there have been signs of life with Shyamalan’s producer credits, namely the underrated horror thriller Devil .
If this latest effort is to be worthwhile, it would probably be best that Shyamalan plays it straight and doesn’t try to twist anything into some kind of nonsensical twist. If The Visit trailer is exemplary of the film itself, then this one could be a lot of fun when it drops on Sept. 11. Check it out.
One particularly inspiring bit of casting is Kathryn Hahn in a rare serious role as the mother. Hahn, many of you will remember, was the adulterous wife of Adam Scott, who took a shine to John C. Reilly in the hilarious Step Brothers .
She has stayed on the lighter side of things for most of her career, but has started to break from that mold in recent years, and what you just witnessed above is about as unfunny as it gets.
What did you think about The Visit trailer, readers? Does it make the movie worth checking out, or has M. Night Shyamalan burned you one too many times? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via The Visit trailer, linked above]
