I thought this movie was trash. I'm being generous with two stars. I don't like horror films at all, so I was at least glad that this wasn't a horror movie in any way imaginable.The grandparents were the best part of the movie because the kids were awful. The brother was particularly annoying with all his "rapping". There was one line from the sister that had me side-eyeing the screenwriter. She referred to her brother as ethnically confused. Hmmm, why is he ethnically confused, because he raps and wears urban-style clothing or what have you? What is he confused about? It sounded like a way to imply that he thinks he's black. Rapping and wearing certain clothes or low pants doesn't make a person black. I found the whole thing insulting.The end of the movie was a joke but I wasn't laughing.

And here's why:1. A simple but very authentic story2. Has a lot in common with archetypes and archetypal fears. The movie penetrate through our defense mechanisms (psychology speaking) to our core fears. 3. Horror version of fairy tale about Hansel and Gretel. Everyone has one inner child who is lost, trapped, confused, naive.4. I was scared to the end.5. It is non-verbal, movie leave audience to expect unexpactable. To crave for someone to save him (them). So movie is also about hope in dramatic situations.

I've seen M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit several times now and it gets funnier with every viewing. Funny in a good way, and scary too as it's a great little fright flick, but there's just something about demented old people who aren't right in the head that shunts the deranged part of my funny bone into overdrive (I must've subconsciously picked that up from David Lynch). It's first and foremost a dark comedy for me, and seems like it wants to be that anyways when you consider how it's shot, edited and lit, but the horror just happens naturally through this very weird set of circumstances, which I found neat. There's also an unexpected emotional gravitas running through the plot line, which is impressive when you consider how short and fast paced the film is and that it actually had time to throw some real drama in there. In true Hansel and Gretel allegorical form, a brother (Ed Oxenbould, quite irritating and the only weak link in the cast, especially when he 'raps') and sister (Olivia DeJonge, radiating talent both beyond her years and what her character is written as, hope to see more of her) head out into the sticks to visit the grandparents they've never met, whilst their single mother (Kathryn Hahn) heads off on a cruise with her beau to be. The kids are at first quite taken with their Nana (Deanna Dunegan) and Pop Pop (Daredevil's Peter McRobbie), but, as any trailer will show, gradually they start to act in a way that would put the word strange in the understatement zone. There's something terminally off with these two sweet old codgers, as the kids discover hour by hour of their visit, from Pop Pop hoarding up soiled diapers in the shed to Nana scuttling about the house naked at night like a geriatric Emily Rose. Are they possessed? Dementia ridden? High on bath salts? It's best you figure out the nasty little surprises of Shyamalan's narrative for yourself, and squirm at every delicious little bit of unpleasantness along the way. McRobbie and Dunegan offer a staggering number of both bone chilling and riotously funny moments in two performances that they should be proud of, for both scaring our socks off and providing endless off colour comedic moments. Now as for the found footage camera aspect, that's usually something I hate these days, but given how well it works with the subject matter and tone here, plus how non intrusive it is, I can't bash it too much. This is a neat little departure for Shyamalan, whose usual somber, bleak and airily atmospheric tone definitely needed a little shaking up, and what better new avenue to explore than darkly comic, hyperactive horror?

The Visit is M Night Shamylan's return to making good films. He churned out some pretty bad ones for a period of time. The last airbender and the happening were both films that bombed horribly, which was shocking given that his previous movies like the sixth sense, signs and the village were all hits. This movie received positive reviews, and for good reason. The plot revolves around children that are being sent to stay with their grandparents, whom they have never meet because of a falling out between their mother and them. They begin to see once they arrive at their grandparents that things might not be alright with their grandparents. Their grandparents begin to act in very strange manners. For instance, the grandmother staying up all night and scratching the walls in the nude is one example of the frightening behaviors that go on while they are staying with them. The twists and turns that occur in most Shamylan films do happen here as well. And I for one really enjoyed the twists in the plot, made things much more interesting and exciting. I suggest this thrilling film to anyone who loves psychological thrillers or horrors. 8/10 for The Visit.