Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

M. Night Shyamalan actually makes a good movie with 'The Visit'

ENTER THEVISIT-MOVIE-REVIEW 3 MI
Olivia DeJonge plays the role of Becca in "The Visit." (Photo courtesy Universal Pictures/TNS)

It’s been two years since M. Night Shyamalan’s last movie, the second of his romp through science fiction and action that, well, did not end well. Post hiatus, the “twist” guy has circled back to his horror and suspense roots with “The Visit,” a film about a naked grandmother clawing at walls, two kids making a documentary and the most suspenseful second half I’ve ever watched.

Presented in found footage style a la “Cloverfield” (with none of the shakes), “The Visit” features 15-year-old Becca (Olivia DeJonge) who, with her younger brother and pubescent aspiring rapper Tyler (Ed Oxenbury) take a trip to visit their never-before-seen grandparents somewhere in the Midwest. Their mother doesn’t approve of the trip due a falling out with her folks — a situation that Becca is trying to repair though a vacation documentary.

Over the course of a week, the two record themselves, Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) in the idyllic Midwest as they get to know each other. Although it was a little surprising to see hell slowly start to break loose just in the first night.

While not a new idea, “The Visit” uses psychological and mental issues as the backbone to the horror inside the house. Nana's dementia, causes spurts of agitation (to put it lightly) in the evening — que nude grandmother with claws — and violent mood swings during the day. Pop Pop seemingly waves this off as a small deal, even as he bears bouts of aggravation and confusion that are even more terrifying under his calm demeanor.

What's truly scary is how well Dunagan and McRobbie handle their respective roles, particularly Dunagan. While McRobbie’s Pop Pop is handled with an unnerving calm despite his wife’s issues, Dunagan handles Nana's inversions between dementia and sweet old lady greatly, with a kind voice that says “Hi honey,” through a face that is unnerving and blood freezing all at once.

Those inversions bleed into the physical as well. A game of hide and seek turns to terror quickly as she chases the kids through a path under the house with cries of, “I'm gonna getcha,” seeping through a mask of tousled hair. The claustrophobic camera angles help sell the fear, too. But in short – Dunagan is very, very good at scaring people.

DeJonge and Oxenbury's roles as the hapless kids are nothing to sniff at either. Watching their personalities play off each other is fun, with Becca’s intellectualism bouncing off Tyler’s comedic appropriations of hip-hop and pop/tween culture (and vice-versa) in a way that feels organic and not forced. They bicker and pick on each other just like any other teenage brother and sister, but it’s less name calling and more debating — particularly on the situations of their grandparents.

While things begin to take shape on the first day, the movie spends most of its time building up mysteries and developing psyches of all four players. This format was paced well for me but might be slow for others.

But the penultimate climax, featuring Night’s “twist”, is something that had me in a nervous bundle, mindlessly toying with my pen as I saw everything come together all at once. It’s that good kind of stress, the kind where you pine for the conclusion but can’t help but crave to see what’s next in the lead to the end.

Delving back into his roots (and not ruining popular children’s cartoons) shows that M. Night Shyamalan can still make engaging suspense and horror. The found footage angle lends personality to a movie already rife with it, with Dunagan and McRobbie’s roles presenting a strong psychotic core to the whole affair. Newcomers DeJonge and Oxenbury handle themselves through the affair as well, bringing together something that can’t be described as anything else than suspense incarnate.


Reach the reporter at djulienr@asu.edu, or on Twitter @legendpenguin.

Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.