crosses many genre lines

Rating: 8/10 (27 August 2004)

I'm not too good with scary movies. Usually I watch between my fingers and breathe out when the music gets back to normal. For people like me I can say: go see it anyway! It is a very interesting movie that, yes, is scary at times, but not as much as I had thought initially. On top of that, it has so much more to give than an adrenaline kick!
The movie surprised me in that it wasn't a classic psychological horror movie. It approaches 'Sixth Sense' well in its subtleness and it complexity. I liked the characters, especially Ivy and Lucius (great acting by all actors, especially the younger ones!) and was surprised by some comical elements. The camera work was very good and the weather seemed to follow the atmosphere of the movie. The colors were wonderful as well!
Like all movies by M. Night Shyalaman, this one is about fear of the unknown. How does a society, how do people deal with fear? The odd (but positive) thing is that, where Ivy expects to find coldness and meanness, she finds kindness instead.
The more I think about it, the better I like this movie. 8 stars out of 10!