TwitView: There are lots of amazing”people in a new situation” horror flicks.  This ain’t one of ’em. Grade: C

Drats.  Add another so-so film to the post-Sixth Sense pile.  Perhaps M. Night tried to make this film kid-friendly, as the leads are teens.  But in trying to craft a spookfest that’s palatable to kids, the scares in The Visit come of more hinky than horrible.  There’s something off here, and it’s not just Nana and Pop-Pop.

The story is pretty straightforward; teens Becca and Tyler head out for a week at their grandparent’s house, so they can give their mom some much-needed vacation time alone with her BF.  Mom left home at 19, and hadn’t spoken to her parents in 15 years, so this is the first time the kids have visited.  All seems well ’til mid-afternoon, when Pop-Pop seemed tuned out.  And then things really get strange when night falls…

To be honest, the mandatory court-ordered twist required in all M. Night Shyamalan movies is pretty effective.  But the rest of the movie?  Isn’t.  Scares that should come off as creepy instead feel slightly strange, but mostly just odd.  Highly effective scares mix with plot points that come and go, and many interesting ideas fizzle in deference to the overall Big Twist.  Then there’s the real horror, which is either tucked away or shown for a brief second’s flash before things get back to mediocre.  Those moments don’t feel like M. Night is trying to let your mind scare you more than what’s on screen, they feel like he didn’t quite know what kind of movie he was trying to make.

There’s a very effective horror story here in The Visit.  Bits and pieces of true horror can be found, and they’re top-notch.  Pity they’re mostly covered by quirk and M. Night’s attempt to achieve his glory days.  The desperation is palpable here.  That’s a shame, because The Visit has an excellent premise, and Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan are fantastic as the strange-but-maybe-sinister grandparents.  I’d have graded this lower, but the twist really is good.  Unfortunately what comes after is haphazard and feels too movie-of-the-week.  Go if you’re up for generation gap humor, medium chills and don’t mind wading through unintentional laughs while mining for the scary.