There is a moment, varying from person to person, in M. Night Shyamalan‘s filmography which marks when his earliest followers wound up losing their faith in the director. For me it was "The Village," for some it was "Signs," but almost everyone can agree that "The Happening" was a total trainwreck. With the filmmaker back this week with his found footage "The Visit," Screen Junkies decided to re-visit one of more egregious entries in Shyamalan’s catalog.
The environmental message movie stars Mark Wahlberg as a teacher who begins to notice that weird things are "happening," such as mass swaths of the population starting to kill themselves. The culprit? Mother nature, who is releasing toxins against humans, because we’re a threat. If only we had recycled more. It’s a ludicrous premise, in a ludicrous film, that is absolutely hilarious, but not for the reasons Shyamalan intended. Anyway, check out the Honest Trailer below to remember truly how ridiculous the film is.
The Happening is great, so is The Village and The Visit looks amazing. Leave Shyamalan alone.
I honestly can\’t tell if the movie is really this awful or it was a poor attempt to pay tribute to cheesey 80s-like horror films. I mean, Whalberg\’s not a great actor by any means, but he\’s not as bad as his performance in this. Seriously.
They couldn\’t include the shot where the two annoying, random kids get blown away by a shotgun through a door, because it\’s violent, but it\’s so poorly staged, I literally laughed out loud in the theater. I don\’t know how to describe it except to say there\’s a dramatic spot to position the camera in and cover a scene from, and a comic angle that emphasizes the silliness, and Shyamalan chose the comic one for this shot, and it\’s freaking HYSTERICALLY funny.
Really? The Playlist posts "Honest Trailers" now? I thought you were supposed to championing independent artists, not acting as proxies for snarky fanboys.
I refuse to believe that Shyamalan\’s career has taken this bizarre twist by accident. I think he is making bad movies on purpose. Possible reasons: protest against contractual obligations, commentary on state of cinema/cinemagoing, protest against state of film criticism. I refuse to believe that Shyamalan is unaware of how his movies will be received. The guy that made Sixth Sense and Unbreakable could not make the movies that came after them unless their sheer incomprehensibility is the intended effect. That, or drugs.
PEN, I almost want to be there when you realize that it really is as bad as this "trailer" makes it seem.
Oh it is. They\’re not kidding about the unintentional comedy bit.
Jesus, I haven\’t seen this but I just might have to now. I honestly refuse to believe something can be this terribad.