Too much Hype

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2004)

I loved Night Shymalan's first film Sixth Sense, didn't like the two following ones which were totally senseless and was hoping for better this time ! This film was better than the other two but not as good and surprising as Sixth Sense ! Anyone can see that.
The film is very reminiscent of what you may have seen years ago in one of the John Steed / Emma Peel Avengers episodes ( by this I mean the idea of a world within a world ), or even one of the episodes from a peculiar English series "Tales from The Unexpected". On that subject, there is even one of the (original) Twilight Zone episodes that resembles this.
Nevertheless, the fact that the underlying idea had been used before didn't detract from my pleasure ( I was expecting that kind of outcome )but I don't think that this film should be depicted as some great cinematic work of art. On the positive side, the picture quality was good and the acting generally of high standard, also a lot of the scenes in the forest itself ( use of trees swaying in the wind etc ) did provide some spooky atmosphere.
On the negative side, the plot was too thin on the ground and above all there was an impression of s l o w n e s s for the first half of the film. Let's face it, not a great deal happens plot wise ! You can rely on atmosphere and weird music to captivate your audience for some of the time but sooner or later, the plot's bound to be called into question. Basically speaking, the whole thing could have been locked into an hour ( exactly like an episode from Tales of the Unexpected or similar ). Making a full length film is probably stretching it too far.
That said, I'll probably give it a whirl on rental DVD when it is issued on that medium as it may be worth a second viewing !