The Sixth Sense
THE SIXTH SENSE (15)
D: M. Night Shyamalan
Buena Vista/Hollywood/Spyglass (Frank Marshall,
Kathleen Kennedy & Barry Mendel)
US 1999
107 mins
Horror
W: M. Night Shyamalan
DP: Tak Fujimoto
Ed: Andrew Mondshein
Mus: James Newton Howard
Bruce Willis (Malcolm
Crowe), Haley Joel Osment (Cole Sear), Toni Collette (Lynn Sear), Olivia Williams (Anna Crowe), Donnie Wahlberg (Vincent Gray), Mischa Barton (Kyra
Collins)
Amongst the great horror movies of recent times. Bruce
Willis stars as a child psychologist who investigates the case of a young boy who claims that he can see ghosts.
Some elements of the story are rather obvious, but
it's the telling of the story which makes this a special film, building atmosphere and tension with a great use of cinematography, editing and music. The performances are also incredibly
good, particularly Haley Joel Osment with one of the all-time greatest juvenile performances in cinema history. Credit must also go to Toni Colette as the young boy's mother, perhaps even
more so due to her character being so underwritten.
Though it's essentially a horror movie, it inclines
towards interaction between the characters, smart dialogue and clever mis-en-scene to give it dramatic impact, rather than relying on clichéd scare tactics, gratuitous gore and high body
counts.
The film became the sleeper hit of 1999 and one of the
most successful films of all time. Unfortunately for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, he couldn't quite reach the same heights following this, with each subsequent film becoming
progressively worse.
9/10
