Captivating movie !

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Absolutely dire . One of the WORST films I have EVER had the misfortune of seeing .Avoid it like the plague. You have been warned!

Why do I watch Shyamalan's movies!! I can't say this is his worst movie (The Village) but geez! I will admit that I did not see the twist coming. Which is the first time that has happened in one of his movies since Unbreakable (most of his movies I cannot even discern what the twist was supposed to be). So some kids go to their grandparents house. The older child is an obnoxious, pretentious film snob -- one can only hope this is Shyamalan admitting to the world that he takes himself and his work WAY too seriously. The pertinent information is set up SO AWKWARDLY it is ridiculous. Randomly, the younger child starts talking about a past football experience that later becomes relevant. There HAD to be a better way to fit that in the story. The germ-phobia was also forced into the story so it could later be a plot device. That could easily have been worked in more elegantly. Also, haven't we seen the germ-phobia thing before? and the sports rage?I was not expecting much from this film, and it delivered. I watched it "to get it out of the way" because I feel obligated to watch his movies for some reason.

First up, I think "rap" is some of the most awful "music" (and I use that in the loosest possible way) ever dreamt up. However, I was willing to forgive the movie when it was used by the young boy at the start - I just skipped past it.Then there was the meat of the movie - yes, a nice build up of tension. It's a little unusual - I would have thought the kids would have started being more worried earlier on, but perhaps with their "documentary" they thought it was useful material and not overly bothersome.All good so far. Then the story takes a massive downward turn, crashing and burning into the ground. When these old people, who have dementia, attack the kids and the kids do almost nothing at all - yet amazingly they manage to hold on to their cameras the entire time! The girl gets locked in a room with the crazy woman - is that a POKER I spy that she moves the camera light over twice? Does she even think to use it to clobber the insane woman (who is under a bed sheet and can't even see!) or break the door? No! Likewise, the boy is in the kitchen with plenty of kitchen implements to use as weapons but does NOTHING. Then the girl arrives on the scene, having escaped (finally) and, well, you'd think she'd grab that big old pot in the sink to crack the old man's skull. NOPE! She just pushes him so he can get up and attack her.Useless and totally unbelievable dribble. I felt thoroughly cheated by the last 10 minutes. Don't waste your time with this - I honestly think those two kids could have written a better script and filmed it in a more believable way than this crap.At least I was saved from watching the credits. More (c)rap from the boy - I just shut the film off. There are very few films that make me angry and wish I had the time back that I invested in watching them - this is one of them. Avoid!

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?