Ten minutes into watching the film, I realized that this movie is not only a horror film, but contains comedy as well. The trailer does not foreshadow the comedic sub theme and is very misleading to the intended horror genre. Although, I always enjoy a good comedy. I have never laughed harder in a horror movie then I did watching The Visit. On top of all the laughter, I still caught myself sitting tensely during the scary scenes, ready to jump out of my seat. It was one of those keep-your-feet-on-the-seat movies so something doesn’t grab you from underneath your chair.
The Visit is about two teenage kids, Becca (Olivia Dejonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), who travel to Pennsylvania to stay with their grandparents for a week. As each day passes, the grandparents become more uncanny and difficult to figure out. The Grandma is always wandering throughout the house at night after 9:30 making unnatural sounds and actions. While the Grandpa seems to have a mental illness and gets confused very easily. The mystery of who the grandparents really are leaves the audience in awe. Being so far from their home and mother, the kids don’t know if they will make it back alive.
On the night of the premiere, I walked in the theater to see a whopping turnout of two people. In the movie’s defense it was released on Thursday, September 11th which was a school night. The film begins with the mother being interviewed. The point of the interview was to show that the movie will be shot through a camera that her two kids will carry around. The filming technique creates a documentary-like feel, similar to how Paranormal Activity was filmed.
The director of the production, M. Night Shyamalan, does a nice job of beginning the movie with a happy vibe then easing in the creepy aspect as the movie goes on. He also does a nice of job of hinting at the bad upcomings. One thing I didn’t like from a camera shooting point of view was the camera intensely shaking during the scenes in which the main characters running or on the move. It made me slightly nauseous and made it hard to keep my eyes locked on the screen.
The actors that were chosen did a fine job of making the audience feel their emotion, whether it was joy or despair. The two actors that played the grandparents, Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan, really tied together the creepiness and sinister feel of the whole plot.
As the movie approached its climax, the comedy aspect of the film died down. It started to feel like a real horror movie. All the action came crashing at the audience all of the sudden. The scenes were both thrilling and disturbing at the same time. What I figured out and found interesting while watching was that this movie is similar to the well-known German fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel.” In a way, it’s a new version of “Hansel and Gretel.”
The falling action and resolution tied the movie together very well as secrets of the grandparents unfold. The ending gives the audience a good sense of how the characters are going to carry on their lives. I tend to like the movies that leave me hanging because they make me wander all the possibilities of what will happen to the characters. I still enjoyed the ending to The Visit.
I recommend seeing The Visit. It is one of the more interesting horror movies I’ve seen, has a neat storyline, and a shocking plot twist. Rotten Tomatoes showed a total of 90 fresh reviews given and 63 rotten reviews. There was an average rating of 3.5/5 stars on the film from the audience. This film was produced by Jason Blum who also produced some fan favorites like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge. Go visit The Visit for a thrilling experience.