Eye of the Reviewer

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2,121,566 people are not Dan Howell and counting!

We’ll find you Dan Howell

This post is scandalous.

reblogging because Dan Howell cant. 

If you scroll past this I am going to assume your name is Dan Howell.

I couldn’t not reblog…

(Source: whiskey-and-cowgirl-boots)

              Over the past few years M. Night Shyamalan’s name has become synonymous with box office poison. Shyamalan was once a promising director with the critical successes of The Sixth Sense and Signs under his belt, but, his reputation was quickly tarnished by box office bombs The Last Airbender, The Happening, and most recently After Earth. This year, Shyamalan has seemed to take these criticisms to heart, redeeming himself with the successful Wayward Pines and now horror comedy The Visit. 

              The Visit stars Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge as siblings Tyler and Rebecca Jamison, who document their week-long visit with their estranged grandparents. While visiting their home, the young siblings soon find that their Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop-Pop (Peter McRobbbie) are not who they have hoped to be.

              The Visit is a bit different than recent horror films in the sense that rather than relying on gore or hyper-violence, it relies on tension. While there are typical jump scares, the tense atmosphere is the real heart of the scares. Throughout the film, Shyamalan masterfully uses sound editing and clever cinematography to create tension in mundane situations. The repeated shots of the house of the grandparents and the weather create an isolationist feel, with weird fairy tale-like subtexts, which only grow as the week stay goes on. In addition, the found footage aspect was used an interesting way by relying on “visual tension,” as Rebecca would call it, or the tension made by not revealing what’s going on outside of a shot. The lack of music aided this, as many of the sounds (or lacks thereof) are deliberate in choice and length, giving the home a haunted house kind of vibe complete with mysterious noises made to arouse curiosity and caution simultaneously.

              Despite being a horror film, the comedic elements were not forgotten. The surreal behavior of Nana and Pop-Pop led to many funny moments for audiences. In addition, Tyler and Olivia’s natural reactions to said surreal situations were genuinely human and subsequently hilarious. 

              Most surprisingly, the film has a strong emotional core. In horror, one does not expect to leave with a lesson, but there is one in the film. Rather than detracting from the story or seeming like an after school special, it actually fit the themes of family and forgiveness well.

              The breakout stars of the film are undoubtedly Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge.  In horror child characters usually work against tension, since they are usually protected by the plot, thus not in any real danger. Worse, they tend to make stupid decisions in service of the plot to create tension rather than organically happening. In the film, they both act rationally, while still maintaining a childlike nativity. Better, although Tyler is the smartass and wannabe rapper of the siblings, it’s clear his larger than life persona is used just to protect himself from reality. Similarly, Rebecca being the smart one (by at least two deviations in her own admission), has her own childlike vulnerabilities instead of being the one with all the answers. Their weaknesses likely will resonate, as the nuances of their performances will remind audiences when they were children and at their most vulnerable.

              Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie held their own with their young costars as Nana and Pop-Pop. Both gave off warm vibes as the grandparents. In a few instances I was reminded of my own grandparents, with their comforting personalities, affinity for grandchildren, and strong sense of routine which let me put my guard down, and become immersed in the film. This warmth created by the duo made the subtle transition into horror more shocking, ultimately leading to a well done twist that only Shyamalan would do.

Final Thoughts: 

              The Visit surprised me with its great characters, acting, and tension building. For those uneasy by the use of found footage, be reassured that it was used to support the tension and emotional parts of the film, making it a stronger film rather than feeling tacked on. Although it is not a classic, The Visit is a solid horror film that will leave audiences reaching out to their parents and siblings.

Overall – 8.0

*Note: For those curious, I saw this a month early by going to an advanced screening last night.

As Hollywood continues its trend of reboots and remakes over original ideas, it will also continue its trend of adapting popular Young Adult novels into movies. With the mega-successful franchises of Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games this seems like a no brainer. Unfortunately, with trying to emulate the success of these franchises Hollywood has seem to forgotten to put effort into them.

As I look at movies currently in theatres I see two that are based on YA series, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, but, what other YA adaptions have come out this year? Oh yea, there was Beautiful Creatures and The Host.  What about the ones coming later this year? Ender’s Game will be here shortly in addition to Catching Fire. That’s six movies off the top of my head. Plus, next year there will be Divergent, Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters, The Maze Runner and Mockingjay Pt. 1 and those are only the announced movies.

This surplus of YA adaptions are an issue since there will be an over-abundance of mediocre movie adaptions that will only exist to be hopefully be turned into a profitable franchise, with only a few adaptions actually being of quality. For every Hunger Games there will undoubtedly be ten Beautiful Creatures. While hoping for a franchise isn’t wrong, Hollywood must realize that they have to put some semblance of effort in the movies, especially in the first film in a proposed series. As reflected by some of these movie’s box offices it isn’t enough to have decent CGI, a few well-known actors, and an established fan base if they want to have quality profitable movies. Another unfortunate side-effect of these numerous adaptions is that the subpar ones that barely broke-even (if even that) will more than likely never get a sequel, which is a huge disservice to fans of the series, especially if they liked the respective adaption.

So take your time writers, directors, and studios. Us fans would rather you take you put out a quality representation of the books we love so more people can be introduced to the worlds we fell in love with, rather than muddled generic versions of them.