Powerful and unusual thriller with chilling depiction of classic horror.

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2005)

This is one of my favorite movies from the 1990s and all times. I had received very good reviews, so I went to watch it by myself (it's not the first time that a below average movie is unfairly overrated, and the opposite thing as well): I was far away from being disappointed. The beginning appears to show just another ordinary story, but that's just one of the cheating things from the movie (another one is the ending, but of course I can't reveal it). It's got all the ingredients for a perfect combination between drama, horror and thriller. I remember the fears of the boy (perfectly performed by Haley Joel Osment, who, by the way, was a few years older than his character Cole as well as the desperation of his mother, who can't understand what's happening to him (even when he tells her what happens), and just can't believe he contacts spirits (she things he's only victim of school abuse). I also remember the restless psychiatrist, trying to help the boy as well as he tries to save his marriage, but it's only at the end when he realizes what ACTUALLY happens. The great interaction between both characters, trying to help each other, is priceless. The dramatic story of Cole's grandma and his contacts with her spirit, which are only believed by his mother at the end, when he reveals a special thing. Well, just watch it.