Review: ‘The Visit’ is a odd little horror film that still provides frights

Posted on September 18, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

For young people, perhaps the most strange and alien thing in the world is old people. So perhaps it makes perfect sense that director M. Night Shyamalan’s newest project, “The Visit,” is a horror film about a pair of teenagers going to visit the grandparents they’ve never met before.

Hearing early buzz that “The Visit” was a possible return to form for Shyamalan, I went to the theater intrigued, even though I will readily admit that horror is perhaps my least favorite movie genre. (I’m just not a fan of being scared.)

“The Visit” is an odd mix of horror and humor, with the movie producing almost as many laughs as it did screams at the showing I was in. I’ve read that Shyamalan had three cuts of the movie: one straight horror, one straight comedy and the third a mix. It’s obvious we got the mixed cut, and while the overall movie doesn’t work as well as he was hoping, I’m not sure either of the rejected cuts would have worked better.

The movie is indeed creepy, with a mixture of jump scares and a slow-building dread that has always been a hallmark of good Shyamalan films, while also making good use of the found-footage filmmaking style, a first for the director. Since it is a Shyamalan project, there is a twist, but it is less a world-shifting revelation than an explanation that, in retrospect, makes perfect sense.

In the end, this is an odd film, with some definitely some creepy moments as well as a few truly disgusting ones. It’s not going to stand the test of time like Shyamalan’s better movies, but it is definitely a positive step for the beleaguered director.

The movie is rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

 

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