How did I go so long without seeing this?

Rating: 10/10 (16 September 2002)

I've never been a fan of the horror genre. I loathe movies like "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Friday the 13th" or "Resident Evil" or any of the other gut-'em style horror movies.
That said, there are a few movies in the genre that I've really enjoyed. Most were made back in the black-and-white era, when they didn't have the technical ability to show someone being gutted, so they had to insinuate it through unusual camera angles and quick cuts. Films like "Psycho," "The Birds," and even the original version of "The Haunting," while tame by today's standards were always able to frighten me more than Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhies, the Candyman, or any of their ilk.
Sadly, with the exception of a couple of movies in the '80s (i.e. "Jaws," but I'd really categorize that as more of an action/suspense movie than "horror"), there had not been a good horror movie made in Hollywood until M. Night Shyamalan gave us "The Sixth Sense" in the late 1990s.
So, when the trailers for "Signs" began showing up during the spring movie season of this year, a part of me was very excited by it. Shyamalan had wowed me before, could he do it again? I had stayed away from "Unbreakable," because I'd heard it was awful, and I wanted to keep Shyamalan on a pedestal as one of those writers/directors who "got it."
But, being a cynical non-horror fan, I stayed away from "Signs." I subjected myself to HORRIBLE "films" like "XXX" and upper-mediocre movies like "Swimfan" and "Simone," but I never got into a theater to watch Mel, Joaquin, and the gang.
Yesterday, as I'm driving home, I get a phone call from a friend, telling me that the local theater and a local radio station are teaming up for a special "Signs" screening that was only going to cost something like $1.50 per ticket. I figure, sure, why not? If I walk out in disgust, it's not like I paid the full $5, right?
The film was riveting. I could not tear my eyes away from the screen, save to occasionally steal a glance at the girl I came with (who had seen it something like 6-8 times before) to try to gauge her reactions so I'd know when to brace myself for the next "OMIGOD!" moment.
But the film was more than just scary, though it was certainly that. It was also one of the funniest films I've seen all year. There have been a couple of good comedies this year ("Goldmember" and the underrated "Death to Smoochy" come immediately to mind), but I'd argue that "Signs" was funnier than any of them.
The first time that "someone" arrives, the scene where Graham (Gibson) and Merrill (Phoenix) attempt to scare them off is absolutely hilarious, and just about any scene with the little girl was a riot. Shyamalan did an amazing job of playing the horror and the comedy off of each other, lightening every moment of near-unbearable tension with the sight of Merrill and the kids wearing tin-foil hats so the aliens couldn't "read their minds."
And, like in "The Sixth Sense" before it, Shyamalan brings together every detail (no matter how minute) from the entire story in the closing sequence, making every line of dialogue, every character quirk, every second of screen time important to the conclusion.
I would be VERY surprised with myself if I don't get back out to see this movie at least once more before it leaves theaters. And, yes, I'll pay full price this time.