Beautiful and creepy (8/10)

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2002)

This is a new kind of horror flick! Of course some people would disagree but I think it is.
The start of the movie is a homage to early Sci-Fi flicks. It shows of the great score of the film, why the credits go by. It's innovative in a certain retro kind of way. Some of the beautiful shots and scene setups that the team around writer/director M. Night Shyamalan have created just need to be seen to be believed.
I will mention on which comes later on in the movie. I try to stay spoiler free:
The scene starts of with Graham (Mel Gibson) and Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) checking something (I just cannot reveal what). And suddenly they notice something, and then the camera shows you, why they are so baffled. You see, and you believe you found it. That's when you let your guard down. You have built up some tension, because you were expecting something, you see it, and are relieved, since it's not as bad as you thought. And then the scene really hits you. BAM. Unexpected. Fear builds up. The perfect horror movie.
Another scene seems to me to pay homage to "Blair Witch Project". It's utterly dark. You here. All around you. Screeching. Tapping. You just cannot make anything of it. And then the light goes back on. You see Bo (Grahams daughter) standing in the corner, facing away. This seems to be in homage to Blair Witch, who relied heavily on sounds. If you remember the film ended with the "controversial Mike stands in the corner" shot.
Like all Shyamalan films this has another last minute revelation. Not as heavy as Sixth Sense, but nonetheless. Although I am not a religious person at all, I found it quite nice and unobtrusive. Some people may think more of it (Mel Gibson after all plays a former Reverend) but I don't. It's just the story.
But all in all this is a definite must see. Most of the performances are just great, and the camera work is nice. Go see it. I gave it 8/10