Let me open by saying that this type of film is hard for me to sit through. I’m not a big fan of the found footage and jump scare films. The plot in The Visit is very basic and could be a great thriller if it was done right. Well, this one falls flat on its big fat ass. This movie was hard to get through for me. Despite my trying, I didn’t get lost in the story and I just couldn’t become invested in these characters.
The writer and director M. Night Shyamalan fails to redeem himself yet again. This movie is supposed to be a “Thriller”. All this film has is cheap jump scares, which aren’t even that startling! These scares are easy to predict and expected since you basically see everything that is supposed to frighten you in the trailer for the movie. I want to be scared by the cast showing me something eerie and spine-chilling. Make me understand and believe why the situation is something to be terrified of. This just didn’t do that for me. (And I’m admittedly a big baby when it comes to horror movies. That has to tell you something!) The found footage actually wasn’t that bad in the film but I think it could have been better.
The acting in the movie is probably the best part and that is stretching it. The best acting is done by Deanna Dunagan, who plays the grandmother. She looks creepy in this role and when she’s popping up out of nowhere or doing her subtle things to be unnerving and hair-raising, it’s good. Other than that the cast is just mediocre. I wouldn’t say that anyone gave a really memorable performance. This made it hard to be truly devoted to these characters. As an audience, you just don’t care.
I walked out of the theater feeling cheated. I wouldn’t waste the price of a ticket on this one again. I might give it a viewing on Netflix, but I’d probably scroll past it. We give The Visit a 2 out of 5.
This review brought to you by: Ryan Wolfe
Cinema Wise 