It’s that time of year. My FAVORITE time of year. Autumn. Hallow’een. Making yourself freak out by watching scary movies ( or not so scary ones) or visiting a local “haunted house”.
I love movies almost as much as I love books, so I thought, why not share a list of some my spooky and scary faves? Maybe you have seen them, maybe you have not. Maybe you’ll look at my list and think, “Wow, someone has issues.” Or maybe, you will think, “I’m intrigued. I must watch that one.” Come with me, Gentle Reader, if you dare.
Here is the first one on the list:
Signs (2002): Written and Directed by M.Night Shyamalan
Say what you will about Shyamalan and some of his more recent efforts, but you can’t argue about his success. His 1999 film, The Sixth Sense, made him a household name to movie audiences ( and netted him six Academy Award Nominations, including one for Best Director and one for Best Screenplay, and also two BAFTA Award nominations), and made movie goers and fans wanting more, not to mention continuously discussing whether they had figured out the “surprise twist” before it’s reveal or not.
Most viewer comments I’ve seen about Shyamalan’s 2002 film, Signs, are either a love or hate situation. Some called it ‘lame’ or ‘derivative’. Some people were annoyed that the aliens could be dispelled with something as simple as water and thought the ending was terrible. Since this movie is making it’s appearance on my list, obviously I liked it very much, and I count it as one of my favorites by Shyamalan. While his movies may not be what you would call a “horror movie”, I sometimes prefer the subtlety of this type of “scary movie”, rather than the overt gore and blood-spewing of the more traditional slasher flick that is often associated with the trope of “horror”.
In this film’s favor is the wonderful and talented cast, headed by Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Cherry Jones and early roles for veteran child actors, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin. Joaquin Phoenix and Cherry Jones would also later appear in Shyamalan’s 2004 film, The Village, which is somewhat of a trademark of Shyamalan, to use the same actors in consecutive movies. One of my favorite little gems in this movie is the brief appearance of the always-glorious Merritt Weaver ( Nurse Jackie, Run, Godless) as the rather chatty and TMI-sharing pharmacy cashier, Tracey Abernathy, which provides one of the few lighter, humorous moments in the film, which are tucked into little unexpected places and provide a bit of relief to the general unease and tension that is the continuous undercurrent throughout the film as it unfolds.
I did not actually see this film in the theatre, it was probably a year or so after it came out that I first saw it, on HBO. I watched the film very late at night, alone, and it was one of those quiet, moon-less, still nights where the weather has begun to cool but it was still warm enough to leave the windows of my apartment open and because it was so late, the streets of my neighborhood were all but deserted and peculiarly silent. I’m sure the odd stillness of my surroundings contributed to, and probably enhanced, the building tension and suspense that I felt as the movie progressed, a tension so acute that I had to occasionally remind myself to unclench my teeth. I remember during one particular scene in the film, where Graham Hess (Gibson) glimpses a figure which had been standing on the roof outside his daughter’s bedroom window, a figure barely seen, just a shape, that moves and disappears almost as soon as he saw it ( one of a handful of jarring ‘jump scares’ in the film, this one emphasized by a loud crescendo in the accompanying music that literally did make me jump, and followed the rather ordinary comment made by Bo, “There’s a monster by my bed, can I have a drink of water?” ), I got so freaked out, I got up immediately and shut the window and the shade in the living room because the sight of the roof of the neighboring house outside my window looked too much like the scene I had just watched.
Adding to the creep factor is the mysterious crop circles in the Hess farm’s cornfields, and cornfields are always creepy ( Children of the Corn, anyone?) especially cornfields in the dark, with weird rustlings and noises emanating from them. I grew up in a rural area, our house was surrounded by farms and cornfields ( a couple of cousins and myself got “lost” in my Grandpa’s cornfield once, when I was about nine, and we eventually walked out of the field about a mile away from the farmhouse and ran back before my Grandma learned where we had disappeared to, particularly since playing in the corn was a huge no-no.) I have had my share of feeling creeped out while near or in a cornfield. As a child ( and adult) with an over-active imagination, I could easily believe that something was watching me from the corn rows.
The crop circles’ appearance in the film are just the first of the strange occurrences that begin, a signal ( dare I say, a sign?) that something is happening, something is not all right, and the Hess family, who were already in the midst of their own personal tragedy, are soon to face something else yet unknown, clearly ominous, which unfolds bit by bit, like turning pages in a good book that you cannot put down. The Hess family’s painful history is as much part of the story as the larger picture of the terrifying invasion that is slowly coming into focus , but we only hear about what is happening outside their family circle by a few news reports and radio broadcasts; instead of focusing on the global, the film focuses more on the fears of the individual, which I thought was a rather refreshing approach to telling this story.
Another tactic that I thought worked rather well was the tantalizing glimpses that you got of the secretive invaders; never really a good view of them was had until the end, and they were about as goosebump-inducing and strange as you could have wished. I also liked how Shyamalan focused on the reactions of the Hess family during the scenes where they are hiding in the basement, and you only see things from their point of view, rather than showing what was happening outside. The Hess family can only hear what is happening, but cannot see what is going on, and their imaginations are left to run wild at every thump, crash, sound of breaking glass and rattling doorknobs, which somehow makes it even more terrifying. Still, they remained steadfast and determined, and found the courage they needed to survive, and a way for their fractured family, by working together, to feel a sense of wholeness once again. And, ultimately, to take that re-discovered courage to find their way back to enjoying life again.
Whatever your feelings about the movie are, whether you loved or hated it, or thought the ending was lame, the final message was really about hope, and faith, and belief, and that sometimes there are signs and you have to decide which kind of person you are. As Graham Hess ( Gibson) puts it, “Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?”
