A great comedy. What do you mean it wasn't supposed to be funny?

Rating: 3/10 (18 December 2004)

OK, I've watched "The Sixth Sense", "Signs", even "Unbreakable", and whilst Shyamalan's films have all been a bit hit-and-miss, "The Village" really sets an unprecedented low.
The plot focuses on a village completely surrounded by a forest full of monsters who seem to be attracted to the colour red. The villagers live with the monsters in an uneasy truce, neither of them infringing on the borders. However, when skinned baby animals start appearing from nowhere, the villagers suspect that someone has breached the borders and angered the monsters.
In the village, live Ivy, a blind girl, and Lucius. A quiet, but mature boy. The majority of the plot centers on them and their developing relationship in the midst of the potential peril.
OK, the plot seems capable enough. The storyline does have a twist or two, but the film made me burst out laughing unintentionally several times. (Not a good thing, especially if the film is supposed to be creating an 'ambience'). The actress who played Ivy could not have done a worse job in portraying her blindness. Clumsily fumbling around while stationary, and confidently running through unknown territories, negotiating obstacles and not hitting a single thing. You've got to see her turn corners and wave her stick around. So appalling was this that I found myself sniggering several times over.
Secondly, the dialogue was very long and drawn-out. I know it's supposed to be set in the late 19th century, so the English is very "olde worlde", but surely even during this time, people didn't take 30 seconds to deliver a single line.
There are films which do take a while to build up some sort of suspense, then deliver a payoff for the audience's patience. Takashi Mike's "Audition" is a great example (although the payoff was a little more gory). Unfortunately, the payoff in "The Village" was a flat, and fairly predictable twist. I pretty much knew there was a twist coming, guessed what it was, and surprisingly, was right. Unlike Shyamalan's other films, this twist has been done before.
Perhaps I found this film so funny because I was expecting some form of entertainment, and was gravely at risk of being bored stupid. Maybe I'm a philistine for denouncing such a high profile film in such a manner. Bottom line, though, is that if the film did do its job and offered a semi-decent thriller with polished acting and a more intriguing build-up, I would not be sitting in my chair in fits of laughter at how bad the film is.