The Sixth Sense: Critic Reviews

There's more fright in any 10 minutes of The Sixth Sense than the sensory startle effects The Haunting produces in its entire running time.

The Sixth Sense has wry wit and raw scares.

It's a rarity for a movie to be willing to try your patience like The Sixth Sense does and even more of one for your perseverance to be so amply rewarded.

M. Night Shyamalan neutralizes Willis's star presence with impressive plotting that's a fine excuse for the powerful atmosphere.

An effectively understated and moodily engrossing ghost film with a surprisingly satisfying jolt at the end.

Billed as a 'chilling, psychological thriller,' this movie is actually none of those things.

Great, but sometimes scarier than R-rated horror.

An excellent premiere for new director M. Night Shyamalan as he packs a punch with a great story, excellent directing, a great cast, great performances, and a surprise ending that will leave you breathless for days on end.

Classy, creepy and cunnningly constructed, Shyamalan's film offers melacholy pleasures and some genuinely effective scares. A quality Hollywood offering and a massive hit.

A low-key triumph of mood and menace.

Mr. Willis gives a surprisingly quiet performance.

The screenplay, with its terrific scares and its amazing double-whammy at the end, is a grand achievement.

A poignant study of the searing pain caused by loss, this all-too-human horror film provokes tears as well as fears.

Intelligence and substance in a summer horror flick? Who'd of thought it.

a good film that shows even better things that lie in the future

...creepy and tender and moving

The Sixth Sense will convince you that spooky movies can be exciting, chilling, mysterious, and rewarding.

Much more than a one-trick puzzle movie… the logic holds emotionally and narratively, and Shyamalan brings satisfying closure to all his characters and their sorrows.

Elegantly shot, admirably acted, and well-scored... but when The Sixth Sense leaves the character-study path, its weaknesses and essential arrogance are most obvious.

Shyamalan relies on gradually charging the atmosphere until an electrifying ending.

This disturbing thriller is distinguished by the moving performance of Haley Joel Osment.

It is the only film I've seen that gives you the creeps and the warm fuzzies all at the same time.

Willis gives an excellent, understated, and compassionate performance.

I'd like to say that writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is a stunning new voice and talent working in Hollywood today. Unfortunately, that pronouncement will have to wait for at least one more film.

Intricate, intimate thriller is full of superb performances, deft direction.