Not as good as Sixth Sense, but...

Rating: 4/10 (6 February 2010)

...Still a very good movie. I am a firm believer in the fact that M. Night Shyamalan is a fantastic director who has taken on some very, very bad movies. This was one of the last movies he made before he started to go downhill.
While not incredibly scary, this movie still provides a couple jump moments, most of which come in the basement scene.
The story itself is set up very nicely. While it is much more predictable than The Sixth Sense, I still loved the way Shyamalan initiates the story, daring the viewer to come and watch. Those crop circles in the corn are pretty ominous.
And in addition it has Abigail Breslin, whom I've come to the conclusion is the child version of Cate Blanchett-someone who can play any role they're given, and play it well. And she was like five years old when this was being filmed. I hope Breslin stays around for a long time.
And Mel Gibson ain't too bad, himself. Before he got, allegedly, really anti-Semitic, he was a very talented actor. This isn't is best work (I'll reserve that honor for Braveheart), but it is still a decent performance.
The thing I enjoyed most about the movie, though, was not the plot, the characters, or the few and far between scares. It was how real of a family the Hesses seemed to be. They are not romanticized in any way. There is anger and tension, but also love and caring.
With the trajectory of his career going the way it is, I doubt that Shyamalan will ever again reach the heights he did with The Sixth Sense. This leaves to hope that the highest he might be able to go is back up to the level of Signs. And this is a great movie. Maybe after he finishes the Last Airbender, Shyamalan will return to the reason I, and Im sure a lot of others, love him. For the suspense, the intrigue. He tells a good tale. We can only hope he hasn't forgotten how.