Suspense the way it was meant to be

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2002)

I have to admit it: M. Night Shyamalan is becoming the new master of suspense. He has already proved it with "The sixth sense", but now with "Signs" it looks like he's bringing his skills to perfection. The tension goes from zero to infinity in a perfect pace during the movie. I honestly didn't expect "Signs" to be that scary from what I saw in the trailer, but fortunately I was completely wrong. Many think that "The sixth sense" is Shyamalan's master piece, but I say it's still to come.
In "Signs" we get to see, finally, a non-psychotic Mel Gibson without a gun. He plays now a very peaceful, and depressed, ex-priest Graham Hess who has lost his faith. He lives with his two children and his brother Merrill played nicely by Joaquin Phoenix. The three of them bring the necessary (and almost too many) comic reliefs to the movie. You have to have a laugh between those moments of sheer terror. Moments that are mainly created by your imagination; it's the typical "Oh no, don't go in there! Run! No, not that way! What's going to happen now?!". This is the type of movie that doesn't work in a TV. You need to be surrounded by a crowd ready to wet their pants and, most importantly, you need the sound of a cinema theater: the movie relies a lot on the sound FX to build up the tension (something I really loved).
What I did not like about the movie is that in the end it's not about giant circles in crop fields, and it's not about alien invasions; it's all about father Graham and his faith. I think that's the reason I see so many plot holes, which I will not mention here; I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't seen this movie... and have actually read this review. Bottom line: Very good suspense movie, but aliens and priests? Not a combo I liked.