A decade on from M. Night Shyamalan’s comeback vehicle The Visit, I still think it’s one of his creepiest movies. Around the time the fifth M. Night Shyamalan movie Signs was released, he was being labeled “the next Spielberg.” On one hand, this is a giant compliment – but it also gave the filmmaker an impossibly high bar to jump over.

From The Sixth Sense through to The Village, it felt like he couldn’t miss. Shyamalan also became famed for his twist endings, where he typically closed his movies with a gamechanging reveal. The thing with Shyamalan is that he really thrives with films of a certain size and scale.

Signs might be dealing with a global alien invasion, but it works because it largely limits the drama to a remote farm. This allows Shyamalan to flesh out his cast of characters and milk suspense from a simple setup. When Shyamalan branched out to blockbusters like The Last Airbender or After Earth, it was a bad fit for his sensibilities.

M Night Shyamalan’s Movie Career Was Struggling Before The Visit

In fact, Shyamalan’s move to big budgets during the late 2000s really dinged his reputation. Shyamalan’s first major dud was 2006’s Lady in the Water, a bizarre blend of fairytale and horror that was too self-important for its own good. It didn’t help that the director cast himself as a writer whose book changes the world.

The film was a commercial letdown, so Shyamalan decided to change pace and helm a gnarly, R-rated tale with The Happening. To his credit, this 2008 chiller was a hit, but it was critically reviled for its stilted acting, and its horror scenes often came across as funny instead of scary.

For those who were already losing faith in Shyamalan, The Last Airbender and After Earth sealed the deal. At his core, Shyamalan is a thriller or horror director, and staging elaborate setpieces filled with CGI just isn’t his forte. The Last Airbender might just be the worst film he’s ever directed too.

After Earth also felt like the vision of star/producer Will Smith instead of M. Night, so while it was an improvement on The Last Airbender, it was another misstep. I’m glad the filmmaker felt the same way and decided to seize his own destiny with his next project.

The Visit Marked An Impressive Return To Form

Shyamalan decided to bet on his talent in the most literal way possible. Shyamalan self-financed The Visit to the tune of $5 million (via Box Office Mojo), with this found footage outing seeing two children visiting their estranged grandparents. While all seems well initially, the kids soon learn the dark truth behind their grandparents’ odd behavior.

Shyamalan didn’t have any creative interference on this 2015 horror, and after a prior decade of his voice getting lost inside tepid blockbusters, it felt like Shyamalan had returned to his roots. It’s one of the rare films that make the most of the found footage style, which the director uses to stage some expert scares.

There’s also its unique blend of comedy and creeping dread, where something feels off right from the beginning. The Visit teases out its reveals, and while its depiction of the elderly is definitely not the most sensitive, Shyamalan’s comeback is a well-crafted and scary little ride.

The Visit Tapped Into A Unique Brand Of Fear

The Visit’s ending has another patented Shyamalan twist, though honestly, it’s not that hard to predict for those paying attention. What Shyamalan does do effectively with the film is tap into universal fears about aging, mental illness and children not feeling safe within their family.

The Visit sees brother and sister duo Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) and Becca (Olivia DeJonge) trying to understand why their grandparents are acting so odd. They also have no experience dealing with people with dementia or the ways this can affect a loved one’s behavior.

Shyamalan takes those anxieties and builds the suspense and mystery from there. There’s also a feeling of parental abandonment, with the children being looked after by ill relatives after their mother (Kathryn Hahn) essentially abandoned them to go on a cruise with her lover.

There’s a distinct fairytale vibe to The Visit too, with the Hansel & Gretel nods being obvious. It’s telling that Shyamalan struggled with its tone initially, with certain edits veering between comedy and horror. It was ultimately a blend of the two that made the story work.

10 Years Later, The Visit Deserves More Credit As A Modern Horror Classic

The Visit gave Shyamalan a second wind, and he has self-financed every movie that followed. Some of these follow-ups received mixed reviews, but if nothibg else, they all feel like M. Night Shyamalan films. That said, The Visit is now somewhat forgotten a decade on from its release.

That’s a pity, because it’s one of his most focused and contained horror efforts. It’s M. Night’s most skillful blend of dark comedy with suspense, and restored his reputation after a bad run of would-be blockbusters. The Visit still has its flaws; the two kids can be irritating, and the premise falls apart under close inspection.

Even so, it’s an undersung gem in Shyamalan’s filmography and is ripe for rediscovery. In other words, yes, I think The Visit is worth a revisit.

Source: Box Office Mojo