The Good: The most surprising thing about this movie was how it uniquely found a way to be scary, but still include funny moments throughout the film. It knew when to be funny, and when to be scary, without mixing the two together. The scary parts will provide quite a few jump- scares, and in some scenes they will simply disturb you. The young boy, "Tyler" (played by Ed Oxenbould ), will quickly become a favorite in this film with his various remarks, "swearing", and "skills". I think it's fair to say that "Nana", played by Deanna Dunagan, does a really good job of playing the crazy grandma given all the versatile things she did in the movie. For some, the plot twist in the story will be mild, but good nevertheless.
The Bad: As we've come to know from director M. Night Shyamalan (The 6th Sense, Signs), the "big twist" is to be expected. Because of that, if you're an over-analyzer of movies like me, you'll probably see the twist coming from a mile away. So in that aspect, the story is mildly predictable. (That doesn't ruin the movie though) Many of the scary scenes you'll see coming, and for the most part are not terrifying to the point that will give you nightmares. It's very generic horror and scare tactics that we've seen before.
The Reason: Okay, so here's the real deal about this movie. M. Night Shyamalan is known for having a really bad reputation for putting out movies like Lady in the Water, The Village, The Happening, and others. He started off great with The 6th Sense and Signs, but since then, audiences have been generally disappointed. Luckily for The Visit, this movie was not one of his bad films. It was disturbingly funny and scary at the same time. This film is like his "makeup movie" to audiences. For example, in a relationship, if a guy messes up and constantly disappoints his girlfriend, he may give her flowers as an apology. Now the girlfriend may like the flowers, but that doesn't mean the boyfriend is completely forgiven. Shyamalan is in the same boat. The Visit is his "flowers" to audiences. We'll take it, but he's still got a lot more work to do to make up for all the other not-so-great movies he's given us.
Take caution if you decide to see it. It's a unique movie. Not a Hollywood blockbuster by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised if many would enjoy it. To see this movie I recommend: Go in with low expectations, pay the matinée price, and go with a friend or date. (You'll want to talk about it afterwards)
The Rating: 7/10
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