SIGNS (2002)

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""There's a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?""

This was the third supernatural or sci-fi themed film by Night, and proved to be excellent in it's own way. It was also a great triumph over the box office disappointment of "Unbreakable," which didn't do too well with fans either, making this script much cheaper in its' overall value.

The story is about a family corn farmers that experience an alien invasion from a secondary point of view, as they aren't in on the action of the invasion, but are on the sidelines, observing what can't be seen, and fearing the unknown visitors, with nothing to do but board up the house and last out through to the end of the invasion.

Mel Gibson (Braveheart/Mad Max Trilogy/writer-director of "The Passion") stars as Graham Hess, former minister of a local church, that lost his faith for reasons that are slowly revealed through a series of flashbacks. Graham is very docile in his actions, and is very straightforward towards his two children when the invasion is upon them. His goal of course is to make sure they don't panic, and he must start doing the same for his brother that lives in the farmhouse next door. Graham comes up with sane ideas, and as the invasion escalates as they can only see on television, he begins to question whether or not there are no coincidences. This was the film that I enjoyed Mel in greatly, even more so than his dramas like "Braveheart," for this is an out of this world story, with a down to earth look and feel to it.

Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator/The Village/We Own The Night) plays Graham's brother Merill Hess, a farmer like his brother, and a guy whom is both the comic relief in the film, and keeps the kids under control, despite that they come off as being much more sane than he is. Merill has a rep for hitting more foul balls than any 2 players in baseball history, with the bat that hit a 700+' distance mounted on his wall. Joaquin has been also a great actor to watch in movies ever since I saw "Gladiator" (2000), and couldn't believe that he didn't win the Oscar for that performance. But this is probably his most comical role in a film.

Rory Culkin (The Zodiac) plays Graham's son Morgan Hess. He has asthma, and believes in the alien invasion, though not in the way you'd expect a 10-12yr old to be like if they believed such things. He's into science, philosophy, and expert's opinions on extraterrestrials, and reads into Dr. Bimboo's techniques to stay safe during an invasion, like wearing tin foil hats to prevent aliens from reading minds. Morgan also takes charge of his sister Bo, and assures her that nothing bad will happen to either of them, as he even kills his dog early on to prevent it from killing Bo. And he also resents Graham for surrendering his faith. I've never seen or heard of Rory before, but he was great in this movie, and he coulda gone far as a child star, though being 7yrs ago, and having only been in 1 film I know of since then, I guess his career didn't take off, especially with the rep of his brother in his shadow, which is a major shame.

Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) plays Graham's daughter Bo Hess. She has a habit of leaving water glasses all over the house cuz she fears that they're contaminated. As long as her brother Morgan says it's alright, she'll believe it, and sticks with him through everything that happens in the movie. She also adds an extra layer of sympathy to the family as well, as she is the sweetest member, and you can't imagine Night having anything bad happen to her, and as long as she's on screen, you tend to want to think that. I didn't think Abigail was that great in "Little Miss Sunshine" and don't really care for her movies, but it seems like she'll go far as a child star.

Cherry Jones (The Village) plays a Sheriff's Deputy that comes to the house to discuss the event of the intruder that was seen prowling around at night. She can tell that Merill is a bit off, but appreciates that he moved in with Graham after the tragedy. That scene is actually one of the funnier in the whole movie, and kinda sets-up the mood that some of the characters will be in during the invasion.

Mark Night Shyamalan himself plays Ray Reddy, the man who traps an alien in his pantry, and discovers that it has a hard time opening doors. This sheds some light on how to keep safe from the aliens, and Graham even goes to the pantry to confront the alien when Ray departs for the lake, believing that the aliens fear water, since they've been leaving crop circle navigational charts in dry lands. Ray is involved in the tragedy that occurred, and feels extremely guilty for what he did, and is also sorry, but is smart enough to know that it won't help his friendly relation with Graham.

The events that transpire in the film make it very isolated, as the whole movie is set on the farm, with only 1 visit to the town prior to the invasion's beginning. During the invasion itself, the only images the family has of it is what is shown on television, such as an amateur video of an alien walking past an outdoor birthday party, and invisible UFOs that hover over cities and show no signs of being there, until birds fall from the sky. Merill moves the television in the closet to keep the children from getting scared, when HE is the scaredy-cat that watches the amateur clips in horror, which is comical, but Night gets the music to twist the scene to be something creepy, and that's really neat.

The scene with the most chills is when Graham Hess ventures out into his cornfields at night when suspecting that Lionel Prichton & the Wolfington Brothers are messing up his field again, seeing as Graham assumed they did it the first time since they're kinda known as the town punks. It's pitch black outside, with the green cornstalks reflecting a green & blue mix of color in the fields while Graham maneuvers through the already flattened cornstalks. There also appears to be a thick layer of fog in the fields, and the way the alien reflects it's surroundings on it's body make it blend in more, but during the scene, sound FX reign supreme, and the creepy music doesn't cue in until Graham's close encounter.

Towards the climax, the Hess' board up the house to hold out through the invasion, and all the scenes inside are reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Birds" in which the same thing occurs in the climax of that film. It was very well done for this one, and adds to the suspense that something scary will happen since you've only seen a clip of the alien, and it's leg, so the anticipation for the reveal builds as the movie goes on. The scenes in the basement were also very creepy, and were among the best creepy moments in all of his films.

The music was among the best in any of his films, as was the acting. However, considering that Graham delivers all his lines very dryly, and how Merill's tone doesn't change much as the seriousness of the scenes escalate, and how Bo never acts very scared when her words prove otherwise, then the movie gets a lower acting rating for me.

The visuals of the aliens, the crop circles, and the cornfields at night were great for the story being told, but not worth 5 stars. The one suggestive picture in Dr. Bimboo's book is even creepier than most visuals, especially with the music cue.

Due to the music and visuals, the suspense was built up that much more in the film, and even the long opening credit on a white background with black surrounding the edges was made endurable with the music cues for every credit presented.

Overall, this was one of my favorite Night films, but it played a bit too slow in the middle, which is why the directing, story, and overall rating go down a bit for me. But still worth the watch by far!!!!!!!!!!