M Night Shyamalan uses the psyche of his audience against them. He uses what’s not on screen to pump fear into their minds, suggestive music, lighting and camera angles to build a sense of dread where there is nothing to fear. The monster in Signs, a movie that drags along at a slow methodical pace, doesn’t reveal itself till the end. Even then, it’s mostly hidden in shadowy TV-screen reflections.

The thing is, it isn’t scary. It’s somewhat suspenseful; the ending, in which the Hess family borders all the windows and doors of their Philadelphia home and hides in the basement, reminds me of the classic Night Of The Living Dead; but, despite a plot that has reptilian space aliens traveling to Earth from presumably light years away, it wastes too much of its time not really going anywhere.

my rating : 3 of 5

2002