WASHINGTON — “The Sixth Sense” (1999) is one of those movies you remember where you were when you saw it. When goosebumps sprouted from ghostly glimpses. When eyes teared up from power performances. When jaws dropped from a legendary twist.
Yours truly was an underage teen getting kicked out of a movie theater, having tried to see the R-rated “Scream 3” by the late Wes Craven. Relegated to the lobby, a polite usher suggested an alternative — an unknown little suspense thriller by some no-name director: M. Night Shyamalan.
What began as an embarrassing teen moment quickly became the best of moviegoing accidents. With all due respect to Craven, the ghost-faced threequel would have been a waste of money compared to the masterpiece voted one of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies of All Time.
And so it’s with particular sadness that we’ve watched Shyamalan fall from grace after the initial auteur praise of a master manipulator like Hitchcock — right down to the copycat cameos.
Now, after lying bloodied on the mat, this India-turned-Philadelphia boy has picked himself up and gone the distance — Italian Stallion-style — to stage a comeback with the horror-comedy “The Visit.”
It follows a single mother (Kathryn Hahn) who sends her two kids, Becca and Tyler (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould), to spend the weekend with their grandparents (Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie) in a remote house in rural Pennsylvania. As the kids document home video of their visit, they quickly find Nana and Pop Pop are acting a bit strange. Is it cabin fever? Senile behavior? Or something much more horrific? The cameras roll as we learn the shocking truth.
Practically banished by Hollywood after several big-budget flops, Shyamalan forked over the low-budget $5 million to fund “The Visit” himself, produced by “Paranormal Activity” and “Insidious” alum Jason Blum.
It was a risky toss of the dice to attempt the tired “found-footage” gimmick, which felt played out after six “Paranormal Activities,” three “V/H/S” flicks, three attempts at “The Ring” and two “Blair Witch Projects.”
But after seeing “The Visit,” one can’t help but admit M. Night has breathed new life into the subgenre. From start to finish, Shyamalan creates constant tension by keeping us wondering what lurks outside the frame. The shaky-cam jitters are kept to a minimum, instead relying on carefully-constructed moves, whether it’s a sideways shot on a bed during a game of rock-paper-scissors, a low-angle labyrinth trek during a game of hide-and-seek, an off-kilter Dutch angle as the camera sits voyeuristically on a shelf, or a walk through the house in a knife-wielding P.O.V.
All the while, Shyamalan cleverly comments on moviemaking in the modern age, showcasing the technology that has democratized the industry to the point of children being able to shoot movies on mobile devices and edit the footage with simple software on a laptop. The kids even talk about the importance of mise-en-scène (the symbolic placement of visual elements). Those who find the film ridiculous should reconsider its self-aware commentary on the filmmaking process.
At times, the script goes too far, particularly a sports setup that pays off like Joaquin Phoenix “swinging away” in “Signs” (2002). Such an eye-rolling payoff detracts from the climax, just as the tacked-on rap ending undercuts the stylized cop-car embrace set to a movie-musical soundtrack.
Still, the potentially “crappy” climax — and we mean that literally — is saved by the masterful manipulation of the horror-comedy tone. When the comedy works, it really works, thanks to hilarious child acting and a running dialogue gag of celebrity references. Then, just as you’re laughing yourself silly, you’ll gasp in horror as M. Night shocks us with a twist that’s easily his best in 10 years.
It’s about time.
After roaring out of the box with “The Sixth Sense” (1999), “Unbreakable” (2000), “Signs” (2002) and “The Village” (2004), he now appears humbled. How could you not after “Lady in the Water” (2006), “The Happening” (2008), “The Last Airbender” (2010) and “After Earth” (2013)?
Sometimes it takes the humility of massive failures to get back to our roots. With “The Visit,” he scraps the big-budget special-effect dreams of science fiction to return to a simple suspense story, set largely in one location with an emphasis on framing, tension and character.
What’s more, he acknowledges his own flaws, poking fun at himself by having the grandmother tell a nonsense story about aliens in a pool of water, then shrugging, “It’s just a story!” At that moment, we realize he’s not about to dive into the deep end of another ridiculous twist, but rather baiting us into a shocker turn that revives our confidence in his ability to manipulate our suspension of disbelief.
Here’s hoping he’s turned the corner and gets back to the basics. His next project provides reason for optimism, a reunion with old pal Bruce Willis with a fitting title: “Labor of Love.”
The film industry may have declared M. Night a ghost of his former self, but thankfully for us, he doesn’t know he’s dead. Instead, he’s busy honing his fifth sense, a taste for grandma’s humble pie, and it goes down much sweeter.
★ ★ ★
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where this film ranks in Jason’s Fraley Film Guide. Follow WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter @JFrayWTOP.
