Colonial House Revisited?

Rating: 5/10 (5 August 2004)

Spoilers Ahead, Read Only if You've Seen the Movie or Don't Care to Have the "Secret" Revealed. I agree with most of these negative reviews because like so many, I feel I was duped into going to see a movie, billed as a thriller, with a sci-fi twist. I mean why would anyone think otherwise? M. Night has made 3 previous movies, all with sci-fi plots. Granted you never know whether or not the film will end up reinforcing the story it puts out in the trailer, but it's a pretty safe bet. Imagine that the Bourne Supremacy, or some other film that ends up being a pure action flick, has a trailer that presents a love affair as the central theme? Granted trailers are revised based on what movie they are running as previews for (give a film a more romantic edge if you wanna appeal to an audience before The Notebook or some other chick flick comes on). But they went too far here.
The biggest disappointment for me was not that the plot was easy to decipher, because I don't think it's so black and white. Although I will say I guessed at the twist when before seeing the movie I asked someone, "wouldn't it suck if it was this..." Still while watching it, I didn't know whether or not it was right because I was fixated on finding out what these creatures were. I was shocked with how ostentatious they looked but I knew that if anyone could explain their existence it would be Shayamalan.
But then he goes and makes the easiest escape possible - these creatures aren't real. I mean come on. It would have even been more interesting if he said they were a figment of the imagination. But to say that they are simply costumes donned by people is the worst way out. So here we have an audience crammed with thrill seeker, who don't just want to be scared but want to be fascinated by an explanation that defies the imagination. And instead they get an episode of Colonial House gone wrong.
At it's heart that's really what the movie is. It seems to cater to the latest craze of reality TV (UPN's new Amish show and Colonial House, for example) and make it into a movie. People came to see this film for the supernatural parts of it, to be scared silly by something that was really scary, not too feel like fools for believing in something so ridiculous that it ends up being just that, ridiculous. He could have gone somewhere with this movie, made it interesting in some way. But instead it joins that list of films that had potential and then chickens out of following through with an imaginative and original plot (The Matrix Revolutions comes to mind here too).
I can appreciate his work for his directing ability and for the acting of the cast, but I have to say that the total plot and even the screen writing is on the weak side. Besides for the unappetizing ending, I also found myself on the receiving end of terrible dialogue that made me believe, more than anything else, that these people were not from the 1800s. It was laughable at times to hear some of the things these characters said and they ways in which they said them. One would also think that if you're starting a colony in today's world where only the "Village Elders" know the truths behind it, you wouldn't need to make believe it was 1897 or talk in some archaic language because you're kids wouldn't know the difference anyway. But I guess that's just me looking for plot hole where I otherwise would not have looked had the movie been better. That's just my opinion. I'll still go see his next film because I have faith in him as an artist but after this one I feel used and manipulated. 5/10