An eerie horror story undone by it's twist-filled aspirations

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2005)

I'm really tired of twist endings. Today, they are used as a marketing device and are heavily promoted; used as a way to keep the viewer watching whether the movie is good or not. What the "geniuses" promoting these endings don't realize is that even if the movie is good, the viewer is unable to get involved because they are trying to guess what is going to happen. It makes it impossible to wrap yourself in the world unfolding on the screen before you. On the other hand, if the movie is bad, you feel cheated; in these cases, the twist is usually not supported by what happened before it. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, as I joke I turned to my wife and said what I thought the twist was. It turned out I was right.
This movie actually contains three twists, none of which I will reveal. The movie is better if you don't know what happens and can make your own unprejudiced decisions upon viewing it for the first time. My wife loved it; I was disappointed. The first half hour was thrilling and terrifying. M. Night Shyamalan sets up his 19th century village and the evil lurking in the woods surrounding it wonderfully. When at first all we get are spooky noises emanating from the forest, I got the creeps. When one of the creatures made its way into the village, I was on the edge of my seat. Then came the first twist and I was honestly shocked. Shyamalan was not playing with my emotions, but had made a spellbinding tale that was deserving of them. Then, he started explaining everything and the movie was downhill from there. The second twist is of the variety I can't stand in movies and I was extremely let-down. By the time he reached the much-hyped third twist (the one I figured out before hand), I was unimpressed. The beginning of the movie deserved better.
Twists and chills aside, I was impressed with the performance from the cast. The younger actors were actually better than the veterans; Bryce Dallas Howard is a pleasant discovery I can't wait to see in more movies. Joaquin Phoenix is continuing to mold himself into an ever better actor; his early performances left something to be desired, but he improves with each movie. William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, as two of the elders of the village, were a bit disappointing. They are better actors than they seemed here and have proved it in better (and worse) movies than this. My opinion changed, however, after the final twist was revealed; I felt it explained the inferior acting among these cast members.