Heed the warning: unspeakably bad

Rating: 3/10 (31 July 2004)

Like the surprise endings which change the context of all prior events in his films, this movie is itself a twist that reveals something shocking about M. Night Shaymalan's career as a film maker: He's a hack.
I liked all of his films up until this point and thought that although he couldn't seem to top The Sixth Sense he showed some promise. I will think twice before seeing his next film. Although The Village manages to generate some dread and suspense, the ending completely negates it. I was hoping for some interesting comment about xenophobia or terrorism but when the beans are spilled, the audience has been jerked around for a couple of hours with nothing to take away from the experience to really justify it.
It's not entertaining or thought-provoking. The ending is unbelievably preposterous. Think Walden Two with some traces of Scooby Doo. From the moment that the contents of "the shed that no one shalt use" (or whatever they call it) is revealed, the film begins to get progressively ridiculous until it (thank God) ends.