It’s hard to not feel sorry for M. Night Shamlayan. He went from being regarded as one of the most promising directors to being one of the biggest laughingstocks in Hollywood. After delivering many box office bombs and critical failures from “Lady in the Water” to “After Earth,” it is quite a breath of fresh air to see good things in his newest film.
“The Visit” is about two kids going to see their grandparents, and after a while they start realize there is something very dark and sinister about their grandparents.
The premise is nothing out of the ordinary. It sounds like another dime a dozen, predictable horror movie that would get butchered by critics and audience bad acting and poor story telling.
But to much surprise, “The Visit” is actually not a bad film. The film for the most part manages to avoid the problems horrors movie have today and comes out, believe it or not, not a bad movie.
The Visit keeps the viewer entertained and makes things interesting, but it is by no means scary. It will not have the viewer covering their eyes in terror. The film also manages to produce footage in a way that doesn’t make the viewer annoyed because it is obnoxious, like “The Blair Witch Project.”
The found footage looks and feels like something authentic rather than a studio film trying to act authentic. Most importantly, there are some scenes in the film that are quite good and quite touching.
The film is by no means a great movie or even terrifying, but it does its job. It keeps things entertaining, manages to make found footage work, and have some great moments. These things are quite noble for a horror, especially in today’s age. Definitely worth seeing on TV, but not worth paying money to see in theaters.