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The Village

Before you spend your money on this movie, be aware that the actual movie is not at all like it is portrayed in the previews. It is not a horror movie, it’s not a monster movie. Most of the “jump out and scare you” parts of the movie are already shown in the previews. The movie has a slow pace, and is in no way an action movie.

The movie starts very slowly, and it’s quite a while into it before anything scary happens as you see in the previews. The suspense and horror of this movie are much more subtle than many “in your face” horror movies, which is why all of the teenagers walking out of the theater were saying how much it sucked. From the previews you expect a scary monster movie and it’s just not that kind of movie at all.

However I enjoy this type of movie much more than gross-out horror movies like Scream and others. They use cheap scares where the bad guy is constantly popping out of some bushes along with a scary moment in the soundtrack. Then he murders the victim and gallons of blood pour onto the ground. Please… Talk about predictable. Scream actually makes fun of how predictable and formulaic horror movies are.

But back to The Village… I personally think it is the mark of a good script and director when he can actually make you fear something as simple as a color. Music is also used to create suspense like many other movies, but in much less quantity than most. Instead he uses simple colors and other signs that something may be about to happen.

That said, I did figure out the movie about half of the way through it, which kind of spoiled the suspense. I felt like he dumbed down the movie too much, to appeal to a more mainstream audience. Namely, there are voice-overs used throughout the movie that basically point out every little detail and nuance of the story, mostly eliminating any mystery or suspense that the movie had. If he had omitted these voice-overs, I think it would have been more of a mystery in the end. There were a few other things that really gave the plot away, but I still enjoyed the movie since I could see what he was trying to do. And there are still scares in the movie, during one scene several girls in the sold-out audience actually screamed out loud, which I’ve never heard in a movie before. Maybe she appreciated the subtleness of the suspense as well. :)

Rating: 4/5

Now for the spoilers… Stop reading if you haven’t seen this movie. Seriously.

I had a feeling that the movie was set in the present day about the time Ivy was taken to the “forbidden shed” and it was made clear that “those that we do not speak of” were a farce. I had a few thoughts that that might be a possibility before, as that would be the only real twist that M. Night could throw in there, but it was all but confirmed around that time.

However, though I figured out the movie, I still enjoyed it. I’ve frequently imagined what it would be like if a child was raised in an environment like that from birth. And I think that was the main point of the movie, and what M. Night was trying to explore more than anything. And that aspect of the movie is what I really enjoyed. The children were completely cut off from the outside world, and for all they knew they were in the year 1890 something. They behaved, minded their parents, did their chores, etc. But the “elders” still couldn’t shield them from the pain of loss, and from crime and jealousy. It’s just built-in to human nature I suppose. So anyway, though the actual movie could have been better, I still enjoyed the thought behind the story.

And in case you didn’t completely figure out the story yourself, Mr. Walker, the leader/teacher of the village, is the one who had the idea to start The Village. His father was terribly wealthy, so he used the money he inherited from his death to pay off the government to keep them from flying over the animal preserve. And he actually setup the preserve and built the fence as well, which is why it’s called Walker Animal Reserve. The villagers never created weapons and stood up to the creatures because obviously, the creatures were the elders. Lucious wasn’t as afraid of the creatures as the other kids because he was the only one that was alive when the Village was formed, as noted in the picture of his mother holding him in front of the counseling center.

This is a very jumpy/scary movie because you’re constantly on the edge of your nerves thinking that at any moment you’ll see the ‘creatures’ yet by the end you realize, that wasn’t scary at all! From the beginning it makes you start thinking about it all, things start happening, noises are heard, etc. Right from the start until the very end, it’s all very sudden and makes you think about it the whole way through. I never figured out the end until the last little bit. But I don’t try to either, that’s the best part is taking the movie in as it goes. I would HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie, I’d see it again for sure!

I wholeheartedly agree with your entire review, in that the film was entertaining, and moreso about human nature than the mythical monsters that were really the ‘enlightened’ creators of the village. Also, for what it’s worth, I had formulated theories throughout the movie, regarding how it would end, and what the twist would be, but I would in no way call this movie predictable, at least as far as I saw it.
Anyway, I made a lengthy post on TeamPS dealing with the annoyance I’ve had of late with those who say ‘that movie sucked’ because the previews insinuated that it was a blood-and-guts monster movie, when it ultimately was not.
I found a few incongruences in the plot. These really were the only things that interrupted the flow of the movie for me, but did by no means ‘ruin’ the experience. Anyway, they all pretty much deal with the same thing:
a.)Why did Noah put on the costume upon finding it in the quiet room?
b.) How did he sneak out of the village, wearing the costume, without being seen?
c.) How did he traverse what was said to be a half-days journey in seemingly a couple of hours?
d.) Upon finding Ivy, why did he keep the costume on, and chase her, rather than revealing himself? Granted, he proably couldhn’t quite formulate the words to explain himself, but the whole sequence still didn’t make much sense.

I think that the entire notion of making him the ‘villain’ (antagonist, at least) was to some extent a commentary on how jealousy is such a fundamental part of human nature, that even those seemingly innocent enough to know nothinbg of the sort, can still act upon such emotions, such that they can commit murder as a result of it.

Pganguly,

That’s a good point. I didn’t really think about it. I guess he could have sneaked out in the early morning, or in the night. And maybe the “half-days journey” was for a blind girl? I guess you could assume an able bodied person could travel that distance faster. And maybe he was running, where she was just walking.

Maybe he also had a fascination with the creatures? After all, he was always laughing and excited when they were approaching, or there was any sign of them. Maybe he secretly wanted to be one of them or something.

Or maybe he even knew what they truly were all along. Perhaps his parents didn’t hide it from him, assuming it was safe to let him know, considering he didn’t understand things very well.

Or, giben that they never explained who had been skinning livestock, and suggested only that someone on the council of elders had something to do with it, perhaps it was him, given that he was not in the wedding scene, and that he apparently had a propensity for using knives to get the job done. It is likely then that he was aware of the hoax.

Look, I love this guy’s movies, especially Unbreakable. I just couldn’t deal with this one.

Up until the last 15 minutes, this thing was a masterpiece. Really! It was that good and the acting was incredible all-around… there should be some serious awards handed out, especially for that Dallas Bryce or Bryce… you know, Opie’s daughter.

But the supposed “twist” at the end… ugh. A re-done ending… ANY other ending… would have been much better.

That’s just my opinion. 15 minutes of nonsense undid the entire brilliant setup.