Back in the '90s, M. Night Shyamalan sucker-punched the movie-going public with "The Sixth Sense." It was a creepy throwback ghost story that reminded us that scary doesn't need to be gore and slash. It was reminiscent of "The Twilight Zone" and with that surprise ending, an A-lister was born.
His follow-up, "Unbreakable," was actually a damn good movie but sadly, came out way before its time. With current fanboy mania and the blogs it produces, there's no doubt in my mind that if it was marketed today as a bonafide comic book movie, it would do boffo biz. Instead, the Mouse House decided to make it look like another creepy "Sixth Sense" knock off. Not the case. But let it be known: that was his last good film. 
What he's managed to do is successfully pull the wool over audiences, tricking them into thinking he's a better director than he actually is. It doesn't help matters that he's a raging egomaniac and has an extremely high opinion of himself and his work. He thinks he's Hitchcock. At this point, he's more like Corman.
"Signs" was a joke that had one good money shot in it as well as A-lister Mel Gibson. I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen after the dopey reveal in "The Village." As for his ill-conceived fairy tale "The Lady in the Water"? I can't even get through it. It's THAT dreadful.
So, for "The Happening," the director has gone back to basics of scaring people. But I think it's pretty sad that his studio is marketing this film as "M. Night's first R-rated film" What the hell does THAT have to do with the price of tea in China?
In any case, the reviews are starting to trickle in for "The Happening" and they ain't good. Garth at Dark Horizons says:
"The Happening" in many ways is a make or break film for the man. It's a return to the paranoia thriller genre that gave us "Signs", his familiar set up of a broken nuclear family being brought back together by a Twilight Zone-esque experience, and yet another homage to one of his mentor Hitchcock's most famous works - in this case "The Birds". It doesn't work. In fact, excluding a few moments of chilling effectiveness, this could fairly be called his worst film yet.
To read the entire review, click HERE.
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