M. Night Shyalaman's supernatural horror venture makes for a thought-provoking and spine-chilling experience

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2015)

The Sixth Sense is not your average paranormal horror thriller, it is a thought-provoking with a strong emotional edge associated with its spine-chilling scares. The ingenious mastermind this supernatural horror-fest is M. Night Shyalaman who pours a heart and soul into the core of its chilling story. In an age where many filmmakers strive for both successful and unsuccessful attempts at scare with with drenching their films in an enormous barrage of blood and gore and jump scares, Shyalaman sheds away from these conventions by showcasing a story that spends chills down your spine, while grabbing at your heart with an emotional atmosphere many films of the genre are often not accustomed to. So here's the question, what if you had the ability to see spirits of the deceased? The answers lie within the grounded core of this supernatural thriller carried on the shoulders of young Haley Joel Osment as it follows a little boy lost in a world of unspeakable imaginations. There are rules, however, that must be established when bringing an eerie world of the dead beyond the grave to life. That's a generous method the Indian-born filmmaker applies to pulling audiences into an emotional jarring experience where paranoia is rampant and the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. The film, set in Shyalaman's hometown in Philadelphia, follows Malcolm Crowe (played by Bruce Willis), a once-gifted child psychologist who is set up with an emotionally disturbed nine-year old boy named Cole Sears (played by Haley Joel Osment), a lonely boy living his misunderstood mother (played by Toni Collette). Upon meeting the young lad, it becomes clear that the boy needs help. But things become complicated when Malcolm discovers that Cole has a mysterious ability to communicate with the ghost of dead people.
It it rare for a horror film to carry such a significant amount of intellect and heart as this film, unless you look at the age of the Stephen King-based horror entities that made a crucial impact in the genre during the 80s and 90s. M. Night Shyalaman brings his directorial talent to the table, and the beauty of his filmmaking style shines in more ways than one. For the scenes that are so supposed to be scary, the film gets scary. For the scenes that are supposed to touch your heart, the film grabs at your heart, and not in a way that feels contrived. Shyalaman keeps the story moving at a reasonable pace as it builds up on Cole's exploration of the real world clashing with the world of the deceased, while accompanying the atmosphere with twists and turns not many people will see coming. Rarely does he let any moment go wasted. At every step of the way, there is a sheer amount of suspense roaring in each scene as Cole is visited by deceased individual who pop out of nowhere and began haunting his presence. Pay attention to when the temperature drops and Cole's breath gets cold. And while the score by James Newton Howard is beautiful to listen to, it is the heartfelt performance by Haley Joel Osment that challenges our emotions. For a ten-year-old boy, this actor knows how to tap into the heart string with a performance that pounds with strong emotional magnitude, especially in a scene with his mother towards the end. Working along his side is Bruce Willis, a German-born famous for his adrenaline-fueled role as John McClane in the 'Die Hard' series, who expands upon his acting chops to deliver a performance that is simply riveting.
The Sixth Sense is a thoughtful, spine-chilling supernatural thrillers that marks a landmark achievement on the horror genre thanks to the rewarding directorial efforts by M. Night Shyalaman. For the phase "you will not many horror movies like this one", this quote definitely applies to this cinematic bolt. The movie is not all about scares, it is also about heart and redemption