Good Actors. Superb Suspense. Bad Twist

Rating: 6/10 (9 February 2006)

This film had the recipes of what makes a good horror film. I am a big fan of M. Night Shayamalan's films, and I was really looking forward to this film. Shayamalan's tale boasts an impressive range of actors, an incredible build-up of tension and suspense, but it's key failure was its twist ending, which both shocks and disappoints.
The tale is about an old village (17th/18th Century) and the people who live in it, all of them living in perpetual fear of a strange being that lives in the woods that surrounds them. They are apparently attracted by the colour Red, they seem to have some sort of truce with the town elders, and now, they are intent on breaking their truce because 'they are coming'.
The film focuses on Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix), a shy yet confident man who shows resilience to the mysterious creatures that live in the woods, and his relationship with a blind woman called Ivy (Howard) who admires this courage. Ivy is also a friend of a bewildered and possibly mentally ill man called Noah (Brody) who has some sort of obsession with Ivy. As the film goes on, Lucius starts to break more and more of the bounds that separate the creatures from the humans, and now, the creatures suddenly seem more active, and it seems that Lucius is to blame. Soon, the fate of the Village is anybody's guess.
This film boasts some superb acting. Joaquin is fantastic as the reclusive and gentlemanly Lucius, whilst Adrien Brody is spot on as the psychotic and unpredictable Noah. Meanwhile, Sigourney Weaver, who plays one of the town's elders, gives one of her best acting turns since 'The Ice Storm'. They are all unfortunately hampered by the bad twist, but you could forgive it for the way it builds up the suspense. It is not a bad film, it is perfectly enjoyable to watch once or twice, but it isn't one of those films you'd want to get up and watch obsessively.