The Visit (2015)

I hate to write negative reviews because I usually feel guilty for hours afterwards and I'm so worried that I'll have a "Eureka" moment later that will alter my opinion. It may even seem like I wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to horror because I tend to skip over writing about movies that don't impress me and wait until the next flick that floats my boat comes along. Plus because I'm not getting paid for my reviews I can simply ignore crap that I know for a fact I will not enjoy like THE GREEN INFERNO. That's not very open-minded I know, but I figure as an adult it's my prerogative to decide what I'd like to digest and which filmmaker's output I'm legitimately interested in. All of this is building up to me informing you that I sincerely disliked and felt nearly insulted by THE VISIT. I know that's harsh but it's true. I wanted to like it! I still think the premise is solid but it simply irked the living daylights out of me. In fact, I watched THE VISIT for free thanks to Aunt John winning a ticket in the ACME supermarket Monopoly game and I currently sit here feeling like I've been ripped off because I have to walk back to the store's Redbox to return it!

Dang, I hate it when people say, "I want my time back!' because I feel like you can always get something of value out of a movie. Maybe I should just use this experience to reaffirm that I don't like everything? But I already learned that lesson recently with the mediocrity machine that was GOOSEBUMPS (I might as well throw that one on the pyre too)! I have been on a "believable, relatable characters are essential" kick lately, did that mar my experience? I know for sure I didn't buy the people in this movie. I don't believe a mother would send her kids to the parents she's been estranged from for 15 years, I don't believe the kids would want to go, I don't believe the kids wouldn't simply walk out the front door when the horror becomes clear and I sure as hell don't believe a SEPTA employee would indulge a child by providing beatbox accompaniment for his free style rap. There are some interesting nuggets here and there involving familial loss and abandonment but they sadly come off as phony and manipulative. Plus something about the film's attitude towards the elderly and the mentally ill rubbed me the wrong way and there was a scene involving a diaper that should have never left the writer's head. Oh and you can see the twist from miles away and there's a ridiculous plot point involving a person incapable of wiping pancake batter off their computer. Essentially, a world of ugh.

So now I'm off to return the darn thing and not only did THE VISIT rile me but now it's also making me feel terrible about hating it. Please, if you liked this movie don't feel bad. I'm not trying to insult you. I'm glad that somebody liked it. I love, love, love that M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN loyally films in my neck of the woods and I will always adore THE SIXTH SENSE because it's boss. This VISIT movie however, was not my cup of tea. Hmmm, maybe that's my big take away from THE VISIT; that I'm allowed to dislike something simply as a matter of taste. It doesn't mean the movie is garbage, it doesn't mean I think I could do better and I'm in no way dismissing the hard work by many that obviously went into it. It's just not for me and if I can't give a hearty thumbs down to a movie that literally ends with a child free-style rapping about the psychological aftermath of having human excrement smeared on his face, what can I give a thumbs down to? C'mon, Ebert hated DAVID LYNCH's obvious masterpiece BLUE VELVET, certainly I can loathe this bland excursion.