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"Do you want to see something really
scary?" Do you remember that line? If you do, chances are you're a
fan of The Twilight Zone. If this is the case, you'll love the new M.
Night Shyamalan movie. In fact, this movie is so good that even if you
aren't a fan of that old TV show, you'll still love this movie.
To be perfectly honest, before this movie came out, and after seeing the
trailer's for Jason X and Halloween part whatever, I was seriously
lamenting (yes, I do lament) about how I haven't seen a truly good
horror movie since the first Nightmare on Elm Street. Since then, all
the horror movies have been slasher flicks - attempts to scare by gore
and screaming. Lost in it all is the subtle simplicity of the horror
movie, which was wonderfully re-created in Signs.
From his past two movies, I wasn't even expecting Signs to fall into the
horror genre. I was waiting for the surprise twist ending. From the
trailers that I saw, I figured it was going to be a little creepy, but
nothing like what I saw. It was very creepy and very scary as I'm sure
the girls in the theatre I was at can attest to! There were several
blood curdling screams of fright filling the theater - not to mention my
wife's own iron clad grip on my arm. She was pretty freaked out and she
loves horror movies. (I still have her finger marks on my arm from where
she dug in!) The movie scares you by masterfully building the element of
suspense. The harmony of the music, the direction and the story bring
you to the edge and then push you over the edge and freak you out.
Why was it so good do you ask? Well, first the story telling would make
Rod Serling proud. Secondly, the direction and suspense would bring
Hitchcock to his knees. And third, the acting was first rate. Shyamalan
has this knack of getting his leads to be a sort of detached from their
surroundings while being right in the middle of it all - almost as if
they are thinking about something all the time. Much like the way Bruce
Willis was in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, Mel Gibson as former
Reverend Graham Hess was exactly the same.
Back to the story. The story brought the audience on one hell of a ride,
freaking you out at one moment and giving you a good laugh at the next.
As scary as this movie was, it was almost as equally funny. Pretty odd
for a horror - but it plays out so beautifully and is interwoven
together seamlessly it just seems so natural.
The other aspect of the movie that I really enjoyed dealt with faith.
This movie isn't so much a horror movie as it is a story about a man and
his faith in God and how it is restored using this horror movie as a
catalyst. Reverend Graham is a former Reverend. When he lost his wife,
he lost his faith and left the church. His family has suffered for his
lost faith, as his children and his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) are upset
at the times he renounces his faith. He questions his faith, and his
understanding of God. He has become an eternal pessimist. Saving them,
became the road to his own personal understanding of God and his
mysterious ways.
A very emotional moment which came while his son Morgan (Rory Culkin)
was having an asthma attack. The way the father and son worked together
to overcome the attack was not only very powerful, but it's also where
Graham hit rock bottom in his faith. Both his children in the movie were
wonderfully played. His daughter Bo (Abigail Breslin) was very cute and
strange at the same time.
This movie could have been a half hour TV show back in the fifties.
Instead, it is probably one of the best movies of its genre in a long
time.
 
- 9/10
Blair Barbesin -
Senior Editor
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