The
Visit
(2015/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B+/C+ Sound: B+/B- Extras: C Film: C
The
Visit
is M. Night Shyamalan's redemption film. After giving us the tacky
Sci-fi bomb After
Earth
and the horrible re-imagining of The
Last Airbender,
M. Night returns to his horror roots and gives us a found
footage-esque stylization that's a new chapter in the 'creepy old
people' sub-genre. If it weren't for this found footage angle, the
film could have been a bit more tense and scary but the children's
'experienced' camerawork and framing constantly took me out of the
film. No way these two kids could film and edit this well. Aside
from that, the performances aren't terrible and the cinematic
atmosphere is on point.
Becca
(Olivia DeJonge) and younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) say goodbye
to their mother as they board a train and head deep into Pennsylvania
farm country to meet their maternal grandparents for the first time.
Welcomed by Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), all
seems well until the siblings start to notice increasingly strange
behavior from the seemingly charming couple. Once the children
discover a shocking secret, they begin to wonder if they'll ever make
it home.
Nana
and Pop Pop are both great bi-polar-esque characters in this film and
really add to the creepiness of it. What works too is that their
Mother is on a cruise line and only available via Skype for the lot
of it, so her interaction with the old couple is limited. I'm not a
fan of Ed Oxenbould's performance in this, I think he's too over the
top (especially scenes that make you sit through his terrible rapping
abilities) however Olivia DeJonge is surprisingly convincing as a
young filmmaker and keeps it together in scenes where the tension is
high.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a
superb sounding DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 track that
doesn't disappoint, as usual for M. Night's films if nothing else
works. The anamorphically enhanced DVD (a bit soft) with lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is not as good, but passable for the format. An
UltraViolet digital copy is also available for your smart phone or
tablet.
Extras
include The Making of The Visit and Becca's Photographs.
All
in all, I hope M. Night continues making these lower budget horror
films and strays away from big budget Hollywood fair. He's good at
working with a little and adding some frights without gore. We can
only hope.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
