Signs Rules!

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2002)

I was worried at first that M. Night was gonna spend all his time filming random objects and overly dramatic pauses and obnoxious beats in dialogue and very little of the aliens in the movie. After I saw Signs, I realized that he did exactly what I worried about...and it was perfect. Everyone can spot an M. Night film when they see it for his obsessions with having just as much silence as he does noise and filming all his shots through cracks, holes, and crevices. It worked perfectly for The Sixth Sense, sucked for Unbreakable, and kicked ass for Signs. His style really seems to be top-notch when he's making a scary flick. The silence and the unseen is what scares you alot for Signs, and when you actually do see something, M. Night smacks you in the face with it whether you were expecting it or not. This movie successfully scared me. Only a few movies have done that (it still hasn't beaten Event Horizon). The acting is great in this movie (finally good kid actors are found besides Haley Joel), and the script is superb. M. Night puts in enough plot and character development to make the movie more than just a horror flick. He doesn't abuse the awesome-looking aliens he created by showing too much too often. He also avoids all the horror-movie cliches you usually expect in most scary flicks. Signs makes your skin crawl and makes you jump out of your seat. It's been a long time since I heard the entire movie theater of people scream out all together. M. Night rules! Also, props to the composer, James Newton Howard, for the spine-tingling music.