Let's twist again...

Rating: 6/10 (8 September 2004)

THE VILLAGE by M.NIGHT SHYAMALAN.
End of summer, slow movie, lack of substance and everything wrapped together with a twist can only mean one thing, SHYAMALAN is back. They said if he wants to do horror he does the SIXTH SENSE, fancy super heroes...he does UNBREAKABLE and when he wants to do a shitty movie he does SIGNS, his movie career has gone downhill into oblivion as did my vote of confidence. ANGEL HEART and THE USUAL SUSPECTS worked because the story leading to the twist can stand on it's on feet regardless of the end so did THE SIXTH SENSE whose replay value went through the roof if only to check some loose ends. So now we are going deep into THE VILLAGE, the first ten minutes bring back a strong anxiety feeling very close to the panic attack wondering if TWISTA can possibly bores us to death yet again, then as the story unfolds fear turns into interest and then into fear again but because of the good reasons. A village surrounded by woods, something lurks in the dark but they won't bother us if we don't bother them, looks simple? believe me it is not. So we have the story, what else do we need? Actors, come in la creme de la creme WILLIAM HURT and ADRIEN BRODIE and top that with and almost silent performance from PHOENIX can we ask for more?... the cherry of the cake is newcomer HOWARD playing the blind girl that at some point will not only be leading the movie but also the audience into the darkness and finally the real deal of the movie, the village itself. We will soon discover that apart from the vastness of the ocean in OPEN WATER, walking the woods at night is the most scary thing to do, I know is irrational after all who is gonna be hiding there monsters? guess what, there are. Now the weakness... the monsters are introduced as "the ones we do not speak of", now this point can border the unbearable at some stages, wanting to slap a couple of characters, specially PHOENIX, well is always PHOENIX isn't it. Secondly Mr SHYAMALAN secret which I won't reveal let's just say that looks like he has work the story backwards closing every single detail.One thing is for sure this movie is not everyone you will either love it or hate it but the movie will grow on you if you let it. As for the director's trademark I can say without the shadow of a doubt that his cameo is the most ingenious ever, HITCKOCK or otherwise. Let's twist again... like we did last summer.***