Inventive Horror Film of Conceptual Originality and Strange Rhythms

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2008)

There's something terrifically off-beat about Shyamalan's "The Happening," and perhaps the strangeness comes from the fact that its a horror flick made with a uniquely personal sense, a quality not found in the vast majority of assembly line horror pumped out of the studios into multi-plexes. No doubt this will displease some (or even many) conditioned by the crude, generic shocks found in standard-issue horror releases that strictly operate by the dopiest of numbers. That won't be found here. Indeed, there's something a good deal more delicate and thoughtful at the core of "The Happening," and those inclined to mull it over a bit will it find it rewarding. While the critical response, for the most part, has been negative, the real horror is the discovery of just how many film-illiterate critics are out there writing. Not one has recognized the film's unusual hybrid cinematic pedigree, most significantly Tarkovsky's "Stalker" and Hitchcock's "The Birds," of which "The Happening" is, in fact, a conceptual re-thinking of. I'm also very taken with the strange, irregular rhythms of the characters' dialogue and the timing of scenes - again, Shyamalan is clearly contesting the slick, overly-programmed artifice of horror genre films, though that's not to say the film doesn't deliver some good thrills - it does. So, bottom line, Shyamalan's films may not be doing as wellin box office terms, but he himself is developing into an interesting film maker with a point of view. I hope he continues in his maverick mode because God knows we seem to be doing everything we can to stamp that out in the US films. Hopefull, "The Happening" will be regarded with much more respect in the future. It is a worthwhile, original film - a rare thing in horror - and should be seen.