The M. Night Shyamalan brand was previously synonymous with sting-in-the-tail twists that jerked into view during the final strains of his tense final acts. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs executed his signature move with flair and aplomb. Sadly, his name has since become inseparable from ridicule, due to his descent into a messy bricolage of genre, style and story with none of those elements coming out unscathed. So, will his next feature The Visit witness a return to his former glory?
Earlier in the year, the first trailer arrived to little fanfare, possibly a cautionary reaction from both his diehard fans and diehard detractors. Now, we have a few new clips from the film, which show us that Shyamalan has leapt onto the found footage bandwagon – a few years too late – to tell this simple moralistic tale.
Two children are shipped off to their grandparents for the weekend, and upon arrival are met with the typical strict rules one might expect. Don’t go wandering around at night, especially after 9.30pm. Cue the “oldies bumping uglies” gag… which doesn’t actually arrive. Naturally, things get weird as the kids venture outside the confines of their room. Noises draw them out and the sight of their grandfather with a shotgun lodged into his mouth draws them back in again. The mystery at hand begins to unravel in this new trio of clips, demonstrating Shyamalan’s deft ability to wrangle terror from domestic banality. Will these hints of his past success be enough to give him a much-needed win, though?
Shyamalan’s return to the director’s chair is expected to creep into theaters on September 11. Will The Visit be on your docket for that weekend? As always, let us know your opinion on the clips in the comments below.
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip. Once the children discover that the elderly couple is involved in something deeply disturbing, they see their chances of getting back home are growing smaller every day.