Village of the Dumb

Rating: 1/10 (7 August 2004)

I never thought, in all my years, I would see a film that stirred as much loathing as my #1 Most Hated Movie of all time: Armaggedon. Yet M. Night Shaymalan has done just that with the creation of this insulting twaddle of a film.
Shaymalan, who brought us genius in "The Sixth Sense", and suspense and tension in "Signs", takes a shallow run at the concept of an 18th century haunted village (done so well in films such as Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow"). Unlike Burton's film, however, Shaymalan's is boring, cliched, and unendearing, and that's only up until the big "plot twist" towards the end. Then the film turns downright stupid and, yes, insulting to the audience.
What separates "Village" from other, routinely bad movies, is it is wrapped in fine cinematography, lighting, costumes, and other marks of a good film. Plus it was promoted to a certain caliber of audience, not your typical teen slasher flick. So it was supposed to be a "quality, thought-provoking film". Yet it is not, it borders on the ridiculous that would only be believable to those with the mind of an eight-year-old.
Shaymalan must regard his audience with contempt to have created such a despicable piece of work. Well, turnabout is fair play. I will never see another one of his films again.
I award this the coveted 1 out of 10 award for lame-arsed theatrical presentation of the year.