A truly scary film

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2002)

Signs follows a family in rural Pennsylvania as they deal with unexplained `crop-circles' in their cornfield and who or what, made them. It would be hard to say too much more about the plot without ruining the experience of seeing it for yourself. So I will simply say that this is one of scariest movies I have ever seen. But, as with M. Night Shyamalan's other movies, it's not necessarily what happens, so much as how it happens. And Signs is no exception.
Throughout the entire movie Shyamalan keeps the tension high by using the music, the silence, and the camera angle, and every once in a while throwing in something scary, something to fuel the fear, effectively turning your imagination into the vehicle with which to scare you. He plays the audience like a piano. And does it very well. In one scene he has the audience feeling the deep emotional pain of Graham Hess, only to jump to a scene totally and perfectly terrifying. After the screams subside, we jump to a scene that makes us laugh.
Another thing that makes Signs scarier is simply how believable it is. This is greatly achieved through incredible acting and character development. Mel Gibson turns in one of his best performances to date as `Father' Graham Hess, an ex-minister who's recently lost his wife, and is trying to hold all the pieces of his family together. He plays the part so well, after watching the movie for the first time I remarked that I had forgotten that Mel Gibson was even in the movie. In fact, all of the actors, even Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin are so believable in their parts, I nearly forgot I was watching a movie at all.
Signs is not your typical scary movie. It doesn't have in-your-face action and special affects. It's not a gore or violence fest. In fact, the plot really isn't that scary. What it is, is a story with deep characters with real feelings, and a subtle terror that creeps up on you, scares the crap out of you and won't let you go for days. I give this movie a perfect 10