The Visit (2015) Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan. IMDB says: “A single mother finds that things in her family’s life go very wrong after her two young children visit their grandparents.”

This is the first time I have been back in the theaters to see a film directed by M. Night Shyamalan in years. Shyamalan used to be a household name when it came to thrillers and things of the “out of this world” variety. First let’s take a look back at Shyamalan’s career leading up to this point.

He hit the scene strong when he unleashed The Sixth Sense back in 1999. Everyone was talking about the young, new director and the crazy plot twist that nobody ever suspected. A year later, he came back with the drama/sci-fi flick, Unbreakable, bringing back Bruce Willis as the lead once again. I remember seeing this in theatres when I lived in England and was captivated by the movie and its real-life, superhero story. Then we fast forward to 2002 with the release of Signs, which creeped me out to no end. Just thinking about it now is giving me goosebumps. For most people this is where Shyamalan peaked in his career.

In 2004, he released one of my favorite films he has done, The Village. This was a misunderstood film by most, and everyone thought it was going to be something it wasn’t. Shyamalan is known for his twists and most audiences just did not like this one. Even the marketing of the film backed up the twist. Everyone thought this was going to be some crazy horror movie about creatures attacking residents of a remote village, but that’s exactly what the director wanted you to think. In reality, the movie was a love story, with some thrilling moments thrown in to make it scary, and unfortunately that didn’t sit well with most audiences. The twist was genius in my opinion, and it’s a shame more people didn’t appreciate this film.

In 2006, Lady in the Water hit the scene and was not well received by most either. Though not his strongest film, I still enjoyed it. Then in 2008, we saw The Happening, which was actually a great film up until the ending. The twist just wasn’t as believable and audiences hated it. The Last Airbender was released in 2010 and in my opinion is by far the most disappointing film Shyamalan has made. It was just bad from start to finish. Then, After Earth hit in 2013, but didn’t do much either and was a bit lackluster. Soon after, I heard rumblings that his next film would be an original concept, and a horror at that. At the same time he was writing The Visit, he also directed the premiere episode of the series Wayward Pines and executive produced the show, which is an amazing show if you haven’t checked it out yet.

So now it’s September 2015 and the release of The Visit has finally arrived. I tried not to get myself super hyped for the movie as I didn’t want to be disappointed again. I decided to go into the movie with low expectations, no matter how hard it was to not be excited after seeing the eerie trailers.

In short, this was the best thing Shyamalan has done in years. The film was actually super fun and a bit more comical than I expected. The audience seemed to really have a fun time with the film just as much as I did. The only actress I recognized in the film was Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Recreation, This is Where I Leave You), who plays the mother of the two children. All the rest of the cast are relatively less-known actors, which was a nice change. Shyamalan wrote a really fun horror film that perfectly mixes the creepy with the funny. The two young kids in the film are really funny to watch and had the audience laughing throughout the entire movie. The grandparents seem somewhat normal at first, but quickly become questionable as the film progresses. The grandmother in particular offers many of the creepy and sometimes amusing moments throughout the first two-thirds of the movie.

The first two acts set you up for the inevitable M. Night twist that we had become accustomed to years before, and boy is it a good one. When the reveal happened during the screening, you could tell the entire audience was all collectively saying “WTF?!” in their heads. The final act is genuinely a creepshow and had the audience on edge, waiting to see how everything would unfold. Clearly I am not going to spoil details from the movie, so let’s just say if you want to have a really fun and creepy time, then you’re just going to have to see for yourself. This is the film that everyone should be checking out this weekend and I hope everyone enjoys it and has just as good of a time with the film as I did. Welcome back M. Night!