Superior film making by a superior film maker

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2002)

Something that seems to pass unnoticed by all of our so-called Critics, is that M. Night Shyamalan makes remarkably subtle films. This is, ostensibly, a horror film. There is a very restrained sense of violence and gore, although both are present.
No one seems to notice that people in all three of his films *whisper* their lines... no one shouts in this Night. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
There is always a sense of place in his films. We see a world that is not Hollywood, nor New York. This is a place he has been, and knows intimately. A rare and wonderful thing in itself.
The film's pace is deliberate, a Shyamalan hallmark. He lets the story tell itself, at its own pace and in its own style.
Rare and wonderful are terms that come to mind, over and again, with each of his films.