Movie Review: The Visit (2015)

Synopsis: A pair of siblings spend a week with the grandparents they have never met and make a documentary video about the event. However, when their grandparents begin acting strangely, especially at night, they begin to grow increasingly frightened and suspect there is more going on than originally revealed.

Who's in it? The movie stars Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Kathryn Hahn.


Review: This movie has been on our "to watch" list ever since we first saw previews for it a couple years ago. So, when we were in the mood for a scary movie, we decided to get it on DVD through Netflix.

We finally had an opportunity to watch it this weekend and, after finally seeing it, we were kind of disappointed by it.

The premise is a good one. Two children visit a set of grandparents that are strangers to them and, despite being warmly welcomed, start to fear for their lives. The fact their mom (Hahn) ran away from home 15 years earlier and won't talk about her reasons for doing so only adds to that mystery.

Unfortunately, the execution, in my opinion at least, left a lot to be desired. This film had the potential to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout. Instead, it turned out to be kind of dull. Yes, there were some scary moments, such as when the grandmother (Dunagan) is chasing after them under the porch. But, the movie was largely uneventful in between those moments.

A large part of the problem, I think, is the decision to make this a "found footage" movie. A lot of films go with this approach but it only really works if there's enough action to keep the viewer interested. In the case of this movie, the found footage approach results in way too many scenes involving conversations about feelings of abandonment and the brother (Oxenbould) rapping.

I also absolutely hated the ending. With the grandmother's obsession with cooking sweets and her attempts to get the sister (DeJonge) to crawl into her oven, I thought maybe she would turn out to be the real-life witch from Hansel & Gretel or they would end up being aliens or something. Instead, the surprise twist, which I'll be kind enough not to reveal, was kind of a dud. I was expecting something fantastic and, when I found out the truth, it was a serious letdown.

Final Opinion: I liked the premise. But, this movie was just too dull and the ending was too bland for me to enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It's not the worst movie I've ever seen but there isn't much about it that is memorable.

My Grade: C

Comments

  1. We started watching this but quit after a bit, just didn't like it but I would like to know what happened in the end lol

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    Replies
    1. I won't go into too much detail but will say this. Apparently, their mom was so angry at her parents, she didn't even give her kids a picture of what they looked like so they didn't go home with the wrong people.

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