Scariest Film of 2002

Rating: 9/10 (13 June 2003)

(WATCH AT CINEMAS OR BIG SCREEN IN DARKNESS!)
I'm not entirely sure if it's scary or suspenseful. Maybe it's both. In any case, this film is the only film to have got me scared, sweating, almost unable to watch. Unlike the much over-rated The Ring, Signs makes your heart-pound faster without spoiling it with a convoluted, non-sensical, ridiculous plot. Even with some ridiculous plot points, and ridiculous scenes, and ridiculous director cameos, the suspense remains. The last 10-15 minutes are truly terrifying- long silences, complete and utter darkness, bumps,footsteps,heavy breathing leave the viewer on the edge of their seat.

**SLIGHT SPOILER** One of the best scenes has Joaquin Pheonix walk up a stair case, camera positioned, fixed, at the bottom. Slowly, he gets to the top, turns around, window behind him, and says to his family below- "It's all Clear. they've gone". What happens next I won't spoil, but it's surprising, and a master stroke from Shyamalan It's one of the most gripping scenes in a film I've seen recently, matched only by another scene in the film, involving a hand-held camera video,a children's birthday party and an alien. As riveting as it is nerve-racking**SLIGHT SPOILERS END** The suspense begins early in the film and is sustained for much of the entire film, but the last minutes don't just take it up a notch, they take it up 10 notches. Having said that, the actual resolution, after 10 frantic, frightning minutes, is a major disappointment, rather trite, and the film is not otherwise flawless, inconsistincies in plot making the film suffer. 8 and 1/2 out of 10. Frightening.