The best suspense/horror script I've ever seen enacted on the screen.

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2006)

I believe this to be M. Night Shyamalan's best work to date. The script was very well written and acted out by the cast. There was excellent interaction between all members of the cast, and no scene appeared stilted or contrived. I was intrigued by the cameo role in the movie by Mr. Shyamalan himself; the fact that he didn't portray a "good ol' boy" in the rural town lent to the air of suspicion surrounding his character. The range of emotions that Mel and his "family" displayed were executed believably, and was the main (although far from ONLY) ingredient to the overall excellence of the movie.
The script was so well written, the acting by the cast so believable, and the cinematography so precisely executed, that I felt I was literally transported in time and space to the farm, sensing deep within myself, scene by scene, the entire range of emotions that the family went through. Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock were excellent mystery writers, but this work by M. Night Shyamalan surpasses them all. Thank you, Mr. Shyamalan, for an excellent, believable story!