“Would you mind getting inside the oven to clean it?”

Grandparents going to bed at 9pm.

Two weekends ago, I went to go see the movie The Visit, a horror movie by M. Night Shyamalan. Although the trailer excited me from the first time I saw it on screen, I was worried because it had a fairly low rating. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 63% of the audience liked the movie, although they gave it a 3.4/5 rating. I was also concerned about the fact that it has that “documentary” feel that many horror movies seem to be adopting, which I never really enjoyed. On top of that, the last horror movie I saw was “The Gallows” which caused me to fall asleep. You know it is bad when you fall asleep during a horror movie.

What is grandma looking at?

However, I was pleasantly surprised that I came out of the movie really liking it! Even then, I was not planning to make a review of this rating but, since I have kept on thinking about its brilliance since, I feel like I should convince readers to go see it in case you love watching horror movies in the theater!

Cleaning the oven

First of all, this is not a typical horror movie. It is more interesting than that. It has comedic moments that alleviate the heaviness of the scenes. You know how many say food that mixes different tastes, such as a mix of sweet and sour, is fantastic? Well, the same thing goes for movies. I love when movies and books are able to mix and blend different genres because it allows them the freedom to do something special and not be limited by its own genre.

Hide and seek under the house

If you have yet to hear about the movie, it has a unique story line that I have yet to come across (and I read and watch movies a lot). The synopsis, as found on Rotten Tomatoes, is quoted below:

The terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip. Once the children discover that the elderly couple is involved in something deeply disturbing, they see their chances of getting back home are growing smaller every day.

Embedded is the trailer for those who have yet to see it:

What is important to note is the fantastic acting. The Australian actors Ed Oxenbould and Olivia De Jonge play the role of the children and are decent actors in comparison to other horror movie ones. Kathryn Hahn plays their mother and does a great job as the insecure mother.

What’s happening with grandma?

The actors who play the grandparents, however, definitely need a salute. They are absolutely terrifying in their roles. Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie created the entire horror atmosphere in the film and freaked me out. They are very convincing.

It is a PG-13 movie and is not described as comedic in its genre. However, once you see the movie you can see why I do consider it as such. The horror scenes emerge rather early in the movie, a breath of fresh air if you have watched many horror movies which build up suspense and wait to the final half of the movie to begin to scare you. Since these scenes begin early, there is room in the storyline to add some comedic scenes intermittently. The film ends mixing both horror and comedy, a feat that must have been difficult to accomplish but they did nonetheless. This comedy lifted the spirits of the viewer just to have them crushed down again when the next scene was terrifying. Watching the movie was a roller coaster of emotions. When I left the theater, I made a comment that M. Night Shyamalan was playing with the viewer, not just the characters of the story. He wanted everyone, both real and fiction alike, to be on an adventure.

If you like watching movies in theatres, I recommend you to go see it before it leaves! However, if you are a horror movie buff who loves to watch them in the darkness of your living room alone, this is a great movie to do so.

This is a great start to the Halloween horror movie season. I cannot wait to see what else the entertainment industry has for us!

M. Night Shyamalan