No aliens, ghosts or monsters here. Something far more frightening...

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2008)

As stated in the summary above, if you are watching because you like some of M. Knight's previous efforts and perhaps are ready to make comparisons with some of his other 'hits' then prepare to be disappointed. Thankfully there's no ghosts, creatures, or aliens present in this one - and all the better for it, says I!! I have to admit that generally speaking I am not a fan of the director's output. Personally I find "The Sixth Sense" far from being the 'modern day classic' as some describe it; thought the 'twist' ending in "The Village" could be seen a mile away, and generally find the man's movies overrated and trite. In his defence however, I did like the pairing of Mel Gibson & Joaquin Phoenix in "Signs", which was an enjoyable outing - so it's not all bad! With this film though, there seems to be a general air of disappointment elsewhere in the IMDb comments, which I think is unjustified. Perhaps people feel let down due to the overall lack of an overt 'entity' that threatens the characters. Conversely, I found the invisible and natural quality of the threat quite sinister indeed and considered the environmental elements in the plot to be a very believable master-stroke. For a film that is shot almost entirely in daylight, and with nothing dark or monstrous or other-worldly hot on the character's heels, there is a remarkably strong sense of dread and fear of the unknown that saturates "The Happening" and works really well in the film's favour. Mark Wahlberg turns in a very human performance, miles from his hardened Bourne 'identity'(!) and the young child in the story was well selected and played. The entirety did not feel either overlong or overwrought, and levels of reprehensible over-sentimentality are kept to a fortunate minimum. If this is a mark of Mr. Shayamalan's future direction, then here's looking forward to his next project. "Hats off" to you, sir - for an engrossing film well made!