GARFY'S GORETORIUM

Welcome to my nightmare. I was asked by a few people to watch and review, M. Night Shyamalan’s and Blumhouse Productions, The Visit.

The Visit 2015

Cast – Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hanh

Director –  M. Night Shyamalan

Plot – Two children get sent to visit their grandparents and spend a week with them. The eldest, Becca(Olivia DeJonge) decides to film the whole visit in hope to help her grandparents and her mother rekindle their relationship. While filming, Becca and her brother become suspicious of their grandparents’ dark and weird behaviour.

Okay, so firstly I must admit that in recent times I have been very judgemental, some may say harsh, about Blumhouse Productions and the horror movies they have been releasing but let’s be honest, some of them deserve it, especially for Unfriended. I do have to give them credit for a couple of films I have watched that they have released, Creep was just amazing, Hush was another decent film and now the recent news of them pairing with John Carpenter to release another Halloween film gives them bonus points.

So sitting down to watch The Visit I was a bit sceptical and admittedly ready to dislike it, although that actually was not the case. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this film, granted it wasn’t perfect but still a good film. The start isn’t anything exciting and comes across as just a typical found footage film with a few annoying comedic moments and predictable jump scares but things do start to pick up with a few bizarre and creepy scenes, especially during ‘hide and seek’. As the film goes on I found myself getting more into it, apart from the predictable jump scares, then came the twist, wow and what a twist it was, I have never seen a twist in a while that has impressed me as much as this one but that is all I will say on that subject. Things really start to pick up after that and it becomes an a lot more entertaining film, have you hooked and eyes fixated on the screen as things get creepy and you get hit with a couple of shocking moments, which should really be expected with the director and writer being M. Night Shyamalan.

I do feel like the comedy moments kind of spoil this film and it would definitely benefit without them, there are not many horror films that mix well with comedy but if you are interested in films that do, then check out Horror Movie Podcast episode 87: Comedy of Terrors(link at the bottom of the page)

While writing this I have been torn between ratings for The Visit but I have decided to go with 7.5/10 as the comedy scenes lose it some points otherwise it possibly could have been an 8. I recommend this as a high priority rental/stream.

http://horrormoviepodcast.com/horror-movie-podcast-ep-087-comedy-of-terrors/