Best Horror Movies

I was surprised when I first heard the rave reviews and witnessed how much money this film was making… it seems to me, that it would’ve been much more a “sleeper” The reason is that, compared to most horror/pyschological horror films, this movie is “slow”. It moves more like a 3-hour long movie, than an hour and a half or so, and it contains only sparesly, albeit well-placed, bits of gore. On the whole, the violence in this movie is only included to tell a story, not give a cheap thrill. For this reason, and because it seems to me to be a sensitive, thoughtful look at the possible existense of “ghosts”, I highly recommend this movie. If movies were assigned personalities, and if “ET” was cutsie, and “Exorcist” was loud and profane, then “The Sixth Sense” by M. Night Shyamalan is quiet, pensive, brooding and clever.

As for Haley Joel Osment, the 12 year old who plays 9-year-old Cole Sear… there is only one word to describe his acting abilities: AWESOME. Never, and I mean never, have I come across a youngster who is as capable of giving such a realistic performance, and of influencing the mood of the audience to such a degree. Haley has a way of claiming the screen, and is coupled well with a quickly-maturing Bruce Willis, who was darkly-mysterious as the tenacious, caring child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe.

By now, you probably know that this movie is about a young boy who has the very-real ability to “see” dead people. Consequently, if a child really was capable of seeing such things, they would be terribly frightened and probably give the impression that something is very wrong, without necessarily stating what the problem is. This is where Malcolm comes into the picture… he wants to “help” Cole because, at the beginning of the movie, Cole appears to be living the life of an emotionally abused child. And also… Cole represents the chance to ‘redo’ the past; a past that has one, rather large, error in it for Malcolm (one of his patients had a mental breakdown and committed suicide, after shooting Malcolm in the solar plexus).

Even if you don’t think this movie will satisfy your need for constant ‘blood, gore and shocks’, see it anyway. It is almost a calming experience, when compared to the gaudy, LOUD horror movies that are flooding the market, and, to me, a welcome change.

Congratulations, Bruce and Haley, on this awesome landmark film!

Cast

• Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe
• Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear
• Toni Collette as Lynn Sear
• Olivia Williams as Anna Crowe
• Donnie Wahlberg as Vincent Grey
• Glenn Fitzgerald as Sean
• Mischa Barton as Kyra Collins
• Trevor Morgan as Tommy Tammisimo