The Visit review: M Night Shyamalan goes from Sixth Sense to no sense

With films like The Sixth Sense and Signs, M. Night Shyamalan established himself as a filmmaker who relished yanking the rug from beneath the feet of cinemagoers. The Visit, his latest foray into the horror genre, is no exception. Yet a devilishly executed trademark twist is not enough to compensate for the lack of sustained interest and intrigue beforehand.

From the beginning, the film fails to adequately sell a premise that involves a single mother sending her two young children to stay with grandparents she hasn't seen for 15 years after a big falling out. Attempts to suspend disbelief are hampered by the two sprogs constantly talking in a highly self-conscious, cine-literate language that makes it extremely hard to form any kind of emotional connection with them. At one point, Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) refers to her mother as "a classic narrative character".

The grandparents, John (Peter McRobbie) and Doris (Deanna Dunagan), are soon revealed to be a bit stranger than your average Werther's Originals-dispensing old codgers. For the kids are warned not to emerge from their rooms after 9.30pm, having been exposed to some strange and unpleasant behaviour. Increasingly creeped out and in total isolation, can the little 'uns survive the scares?

Despite being recorded on cameras held by the pubescent protagonists, keen to document their experience with their grandparents, The Visit differs from the stale found footage subgenre in that the material was never lost. There are certainly times you wish it had been though, as it's one of those films where the characters keep filming and capturing the action at hugely implausible moments when their lives are seemingly at risk. The form only serves to detract from the content rather than enhance it.

The cast all acquit themselves well, with veterans McRobbie and Dunagan able to convincingly fluctuate between endearing and sinister. Olivia DeJonge also showcases her nascent talents in a demanding role full of alienating dialogue that she manages to transcend during quiet moments of introspection.

The Visit doesn't contain enough mystery or thrills to be deemed a success, but writer-director M. Night Shyamalan deserves to be commended for taking several key creative risks at key points in the narrative. They don't quite work, but that's vastly preferable to those horror films that stick purely to a by-numbers approach.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan; Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan; Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Peter McRobbie, Deanna Dunagan; Running time: 94 mins; Certificate: 15