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My all time favorite crap flick. Every actor puts on their worst performance for this "film". It's truly amazing how all of these reasonably good actors and actresses could simultaneously be so bad, but it works. Nearly every line is delivered in such spot on comedic inflection and timing that you'll be on the floor laughing until your throat is raw. There's no way to walk away form this movie without a smile on your face- just not for the right reasons. Highly recommended.
I didn't think it was that bad and I kinda liked the idea of the movie.
Posted By: caseynight88 at 11:25am, September 27, 2009
It had a few disturbing moments and a eerie, tight feeling to it for most of the time. But it is also very shallowly scripted and the acting is poor. All in all - mediocre.
Posted By: King_Stephen at 5:17pm, September 14, 2009
started so well thought i was in for something special but oh was i wrong. watchable
Posted By: Bostic101 at 3:06am, September 13, 2009
The first 5 minutes was the best but after that I wanted to try to burn music on my DVD to try to use it for better purposes. Please don't support this movie by buying, renting , or downloading..It was so terrible you might think about suicide yourself. Shyamalan thumbs down.
HOW DO I GIVE A ZERO?!!!Shyamalan No respect for you.. You lost me as a veiwer... I can't deal with anymore of your shit!!! I have tried over, and over, and over, and over, with this shit and you know what? I have lost brain cells...Thanks a lot, hours of my life can never be recoverd!!!
This movie doesn't even deserve one skull. Mr. Shyamalan needs his writing proof read before he makes a film about it. seriously. what a piece of poop.
M. Night Shyamalan shouldn't be allow to make movies anymore... This movie is terrible and Mark Walberg isn't himself he plays a sensive man who like everyone else is running from evil plants... lol plants.... Not plants that attack you violently or brutally they blow MYSTICALLY dust your way and you want to kill yourself lol... All I can say is Shyamalan consistently trys a MYSTICALLY approach throughout all his movies and lives me empty and sick everytime... NEVER WASTE ONE SECOND WITH THIS MOVIE... If anyone sees Shyamalan's name on a movie you have to realize how empty his movies will leave you....
I didn't think it was that bad. All the criticism is coming from people who wanted to SEE something, which you don't in this film. Just let your imagination go. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for Zooey Deschanel.
I'm sorry, but this movie was absolute crap. Oooo, watch out for the scary breeze! Incredibly stupid. And Marky Mark acts like this is his first film! I know the man can act, I've seen it. M. Night has been going to shit since The Village, which I figured out in the first 15 minutes. I can't believe this is from the same man who made Signs, which scared the shit out of me, and Unbreakable, which was phenomenal... and of course, 6th Sense. I think he needs to give the whole twist thing a rest and try making another great movie. I wish I could give this NEGATIVE 5 skulls!
Oh lord what a drag of lame-O events. This is for one, a total plot rip-off of 'Suicide Club' and the only thing real good about this movie was the Iphone bit, aside from a few creative mass suicide shots this was abit rank. That crazy wrinkly old lady was the scariest thing about this movie. Entertaing at most, but a re-watch, or any kind of originality acclaims are out of the question.
Wow, this was a big disappointment. I thought there were some great bits in the BEGINNING, but then it went so flat towards the end. Such an anti-climax. A great cast too, but they were all completely under-used and came across as wooden and boring. When I saw the scene at the beginning with all the workers jumping off the roof of the building, I thought "oh, this is going to be really cool". Little did I know that I had just witnessed the only good bit in the entire film. Basically, this film felt like it was leading towards something the entire time, and never got there. The ending was just ... boring. There's no other way to describe it.
Oh no no no no no... OMG where to start... worst movie in a long time. Bad acting OMG Mark W is the worst actor alive if this wasn't proof then Max Payne was eww. Ok the directin in this movie was phoned in everything about this movie was phined in it was bad just sucky as hell. Nothing good or nice can be said about it It's not worth watching only burning!!
Good. I really liked the plot and the essence of what was happening. The film is really enjoyable with the sudden change in people when this gas has got them is astounding. The thing that really annoyed me in the movie was the main cast. The old fashioned country settings worked well in the film, and the everybody working together scheme really made the film watchable. The ending was really bland until the switchover to the foreign country.
The plot was really great, with the scenes really working well. I must say, the best part of the film was when the main cast were at the old lady’s home. It was really funny in a weird way even though i guess they tried to make it scary. The death scenes were also the bets part. They were gruesome and really added extra tension when other cast members found them.
The acting was good. Zooey Deschanel reminded me of Emily Watson in Red Dragon because of her eyes and just the expressions she made. Mark Wahlberg was really irritating because his character was just so smart but annoying. The ending where him and Zooey got together was so coincidental that the virus stopped just as they were gonna die. What a crock of shit.
Overall The Happening is a good watch, and a enjoyable experience. My rating is 3.5/5
Posted By: blood_rules1 at 8:36pm, February 16, 2009
I just got done watching it. It was alright. Could've been better. The acting was pretty cheesy, especially Mark Wahlberg. Stick to rapping. lol jk please don't. The movies was decent though. My friend hated on it badly. So i wanted to see for myself. The ending was not a shocking one. Wasn't really looking for one. M. Night has done better. Signs and Unbreakable. That's it. Lady In The Water was a total waste. I give this movie a redbox. (courtesy of Cadaver Lab Podcast)
I saw the trailer to the Happening whilst on holiday in Egypt...and thought this looks good "the girl stabs her own heck with a hair pin" wow I thought. Came back to England and took my girlfriend to see the film...after explaining what I had seen in the trailer....the scenes in the trailer were not in the film!!! cut...removed...how stupid I felt. The film could of been a P.G. The girl reaches for her hair pin and pulls it out...cut to a different scene....there was no gore or scenes of death....it was utter Dog Crap!!.. Me and my girlfriend were all for getting up and walking out...but we decided to see in vain hope it would get better....how wrong we where. I later read that the UK got a heavily edited version of the film....whether this is true or just a myth to explain away a terrible film, I don't know.....
So in total...poor film, poor acting.....and poor editing made the film jump around and became an incoherent mess.
i woke up today and saw that this was on the user reviews for the day... seeing that i remembered that i actually watched this movie, and remembering that upset movie.
This was one of the worst movies released in 2008. The fact that this made a theatrical run, and movies like Midnight Meat Train, and Repo! got tossed aside makes me sick to my stomach.
Well,wasn't this one big laughable mess. Oh no, it's the attack of the killer wind ! hahahahaha.
I'm starting to think M Night Shyamalan has pulled a Milli Vanilli on filmgoers with The Sixth Sense as all of his other movies are dreadful but this one takes the cake. This film contains some of the worst acting I've ever seen, and to think Mark Walhberg was oscar nominated for The Departed. He clearly needs to stick working with Marty S as what he put on display here was nothing short of amatuer, just gasp then laugh your ass off as our 'hero' talks to a bloody plant. Even John Leguizamo was annoying in this and as for Zooey Daschanel, don't start me. The plot would have to be one of the worst ideas ever thought up and as for the violence and blood, there was hardly any, all the good stuff was used in the marketing plus i've seen worse on the evening news. This is one film that is definitley not 'happening'. Avoid
Posted By: AshWilliams95 at 10:38pm, December 24, 2008
This movie was fucking horrible! It had the potential to be good, pretty good story line and everything but NO! M. night shyamalan wasn't going for a good movie cause that would make too much sense and would actually be pretty good.
Storyline: Gases produced by plants make you commit suicide (sounds alright), and of course its the same thing, small group of survivors, get killed off one by one until there is like 3 left they survive.......Well that sure was a suprise >:( 1/10
Acting: The main female role acted like she was in another world or stoned and some other actors were just shit as shit can get. 0/10
Special Effects: I would have liked to see more blood and gore, but it was way too tame it could have been rated M not MA15+ it was such a let down. The deaths looked fine and nothing looked too cheesy or corny. 0/10
Best Scene: When the credits rolled up and the piece of shit was over. 0/10
Ending: It happens somewhere else I honestly stopped paying my full attention to this movie after about an hour of uneventful bullshit. 0/10
Overall I hated this movie bottom line: REMAKE IT WITH MORE DEATHS, ANARCHY AND GOOD IDEAS. I give this steaming pile of goat shit a pitiful 2/10
this movie was alright people say it sucks but i've seen worst,
this one was interesting and keep me Entertained
and yeah some of the acting did bother me like that old lady =|
and all the random facts i didn't care for
this movie needed more death and blood!
and i hate the fact that people were expecting a big twist at the end =| come on
he's only human he can't think of a great ending each time
what the hell would you have wanted to the twist to be John Leguizamo was the killer becuase he was a alien ghost from the future here to warn us we'er stupid =|
it's a ok movie it just need more of a reason why things are happening then what they siad and yes more blood!
Posted By: andrewautopsy at 2:30pm, December 20, 2008
I loved this, M. Night Shyamalan did excellent. I also liked Signs with Mel Gibson, i like that this has abit of gore. I think the first 3/4's of the movie was brilliant, the ending was abit rubbish. But i loved the ending in Paris, i thought that was a good addition to the movie.
I'd like to see a sequel to this, in Paris. I'd be very intrested and be intrigued to watch this.
If you want to ask me questions on horror movies please do! Im on bloody-disgusting all the time.
I can see why some people don't like this movie and I can see why people do like it. I'm in between. On one hand, M. Night Shyamalan could have done a lot better with this film, considering it was an R-rated film. Now, we all know that M. Night is most famous for his twists in his films. So, WHERE THE HELL WAS THE TWIST FOR THIS FILM?! Was it seriously supposed to be that the "epidemic" was controlled by the emotional state of plants? Was this an attempt at an environmentally-concious film? And were the three at the end spared because Wahlberg talked soothingly to a PLASTIC plant? Do plants have eyes similar to God or Santa? On the other hand, you have to appreciate this film because this was a pretty decent first attempt at an R-rated film. The deaths are disturbing and grusome and really get under your skin. Overall, The Happening has major flaws, but it is enjoyable to watch. So, for all those who did not like this film, was worse than Lady in the Water (which I admit is an ok film)? Why, I think NOT!!!
alrith .. the Happening.. its not bad .. comon guys just admen it.. its a good new idea and brilliant.. the only problems was some of actors been cold little in this 1 and umm... the final twist was little disappointed.. but it still new fresh idea and good .. but it could be better
Posted By: BRLAXATTACK22 at 11:35am, November 14, 2008
This movie was so hyped up to be extremely violent and intense. They continually exclaimed that it was shymalan's first R rated movie... big deal. He has had so many better movies such as signs and the sixth sense. they were PG-13 and were a hell of alot scarier than this garbage. this movie had one of the worst plots i have ever seen. THE WIND? what the hell kind of villain is that? Lame, boring, unmotivated and bad acting. The only thing good about this movie were some of the death sequences qhich actually went on for a long enough time that they eventually got boring because they were so repetitive
Posted By: horrorfan25 at 8:35pm, November 5, 2008
Again, why so much hate for The happening? The acting was good, the movie was entertaining, the gore was decent, and it was well directed. The happening is a really underrated film that deserves at least more than what it's getting. I recommend The happening.
........this looked so good....
The way the movie begins it just gets right into the action none of the boring stuff usually stuffed at the first scene's of a horror/thriller. It just gets right into the violence which i liked. but after that it just goes downhill, very slowly the whole movie just goes downhill from there. It got really boring for me when people weren't dieing. around the last half hour i was so bored i felt myself spacing out because the movie was so damn boring. I hoped that the ending would redeem the film with some super twist i really hoped that would happen.......waiting and waiting and.... no no super twist. but this film does have a meaning its trying to get across to people, it just did it in a sucky way. I reccomend you just skip this one and rent something decent. I give it a 2/10
Posted By: tcmassacre at 10:07pm, October 29, 2008
This is probably going to be a long one.
And a confusing one as well, as it's not easy to review this without revealing too much about it.
Let me start off by saying that I'm a fairly big Shyamalan fan. I felt The Sixth Sense was a powerful ground-breaking movie at several levels. Unbreakable was a good super-hero story told in a great unconventional manner. The Signs was presented in a frighteningly real way in all its aspects. The Village is, quite simply, his masterpiece in terms of atmosphere and twist meshing (although the latter does face the serious competition of The Sixth Sense). I still haven't seen Lady in the Water, but quite honestly, I can't say I'm looking forward to it, for several reasons.
And when you've seen enough of Shyamalan's work, it becomes apparent that this director is a master of the non-apparent, i.e. there's always some symbolic construction to be deconstructed, a set of thin layers to peel off until you get to the bottom of it, a fair amount of little details that are to be interpreted beyond their literal significance, and so on. With The Happening, he actually tries to raise the bar on that. And so what happens is that most people start watching this movie with a concept in mind and they end up getting something else, albeit this may not be easily perceived at first. Even if you're familiar with his previous movies. And, if you do surpass the obvious, doesn't matter if you feel like praising the movie or slagging it off, because both become an ungrateful task.
After I watched the movie, I read some of the director's interviews to make sure I understood the underlying meaning (the two main underlying meanings, that is), as I didn't actually believe I got them totally right, because if I had, then that meant Shyamalan had made a terrible job this time.
But I did.
And he has.
Because at the end of the day, and taking ALL its possible meanings into account, The Happening is, simply put, anything but.
Let's skip to what's obvious to EVERYONE, which is the amateur acting done by suposedly professional actors. More than that, it felt like an amateur casting from M. Night. At first I thought that Wahlberg in the main lead had been just a very unfortunate yet unintentional miscast from the director. Then I found out that Shyamalan intentionally chose him due to one of the underlying meanings presented in the movie. So no excuses here. EVERYONE did a terrible job. Shyamalan seemed to have chosen the entire cast out of a dice-rolling game, and the result is that you see a bunch of sleepwalkers on screen during the entire movie, but you rarely get to see some real acting skills. Whatever was "happening", it seemed to have already started happening to all characters since the very beginning. Give me a lobotomy and several botox shots, and I could still do much better.
Ridiculous.
Then there's the script. The actual, literal script. Which was a joke. Even if you want to add some thick layers of meaning underneath it, you can't just forget about the main plot. Shyamalan apparently became so excited with the idea that he was being as bold and as cryptic and as socially aware as he'd never been before that he was arrogant enough to forget about everything else, and the core of the story just falls apart completely after the first few minutes.
Again, an amateur's mistake.
My last remark regarding the negative aspects of this movie goes towards the dilemmas he meant to present. Alright (although not altogether original) in their very essence. Painfully terrible in their final outcome. For them to come out on a positive note, they needed an intense setting, a strong and coherent plot, a luring atmosphere, and some compelling acting.
They had none.
My 1.5 star goes to the first couple minutes (great and promising kick off), to some details and phrases throughout that make you start realizing the intended double meaning, to some visually intense scenes and to the benefit of the doubt I necessarily have to give to Shyamalan, with whom boldness usually means thinking outside the box instead of arrogance.
Not this time, though.
This time he only deserves a "Bad M. Night, THAT'S A BAD M. NIGHT!" kind of look.
Posted By: bloodcleansed at 1:10am, October 21, 2008
I have to be honest, I thought this movie was awful. The plot was terrible, I had no real sense of conflict, because I don't think it was depicted very well. I just felt as if I had spent an hour and a half of my life wasted, and I can never get it back. I took a chance on watching this movie, b/c I had heard The Village was so bad, but man . . . The Happening was such a let down.
From all the previews and interviews I was expecting a little more then what I got. The plot was good, something not quite covered before. I was always waiting to see what would happen next. I was a little disapponted by the ending thou, it could have turned out a little different.
Posted By: horrorfan1988 at 8:37pm, October 18, 2008
I expected a lot more. I was hoping that this would tb ethe movie to put M. Night back on top. Sure, it was creepy and gory, but this had the potential to be flat out scary. Still, a pretty good step up from Lady in the Water.
Posted By: fuadramses725 at 9:22pm, October 16, 2008
This movie is brilliant! Not in an oscar movie kinda way, but in a hilarious B movie kinda way. I have enjoyed most of Night's films. I think it is so funny that people take his movies so seriously. Did all the haters not see what he was doing with this? Did you really think that Mark Walhberg's acting was so bad by accident? This guy was incredible in the Departed. This is a B movie people, on purpose. I read an interview with Night where he stated that this was his homage to old cheesy movies. If you want a "good" movie from M. Night, watch Unbreakable. I think that movie is his best. But if you are looking for some fun, mindless entertainment with hilarious death scenes, I highly recommend the Happening. Roger Corman would be proud.
P.S. Don't take it seriously. Just lighten the fuck up!
Posted By: Lyssa284225 at 7:37pm, October 16, 2008
Pros:
*Shyamalan makes an "R" rating film. Unfortunately by just a few scenes,
buried within a "PG-13" script.
*A Short Runtime helps this film just "breeze" by.
*I've always wondered what it would be like to calmly offer my limbs to a lion or to casually lie down in front of a moving lawnmover. They must have seen this movie too.
Cons:
*His patented shocker endings? This film doesn't have one. Not that it wasn't shocking,
it just isn't here.
*Did you ever see any of M's childhood films? He must have wrote this script when he was 13. And in science class. An 8th grade science class.
*It just sucks. Or should I say blows?
You don't have to be a major film fan to realize that writer/director M. Night Shyamalan basically has created movies that slowly go less and less into his first works The Sixth Sense in overall quality. But when it was announced that Fox wanted him to make his first ever "R" rated picture, would that be enough to break him out of his never-ending slump?
Nope.
The Happening stars Mark Walberg as a high school science teacher who among everyone else in his Pennsylvania suburb hears that an airborne biological terrorist attack has landed in New York causing it's victims to lose control and find a way to commit suicide. As residents flee towards help, soon they realize that this attack has spread over the Northeastern portion of the United States and that they're right in the middle of it. But is this plague manmade or of a more natural kind? Could it be caused by nature itself? Will anybody know or care after watching this dreck?!!?
I doubt it. While "M" and this film try to be all scientific-like interesting, it truly falls amazingly flat. To be honest, this is M. Night's absolute worse film. First, the infected all basically do the same thing which is babble for a second, walk backwards, and find some way to kill themselves, all the while looking like they are still in complete control. Another is the dialouge. While the acting isn't all that great to begin with, I personally haven't heard words written this bad since some kid named Anakin was breaking some pregnant chick's heart. At times I truly felt more for myself watching this than for the victims screaming at the sight of seeing a brisk breeze of air flowing ever so calmly in front of them. Oh my God, WIND!!!!!
However, an "R" rating does mean something had to earn it and in a small way it has. Some of the suicides are a bit clever, and yes, even reach R graphicness, but there's just not enough of them to save this movie. In fact, M. Knight himself (through interviews and deleted scenes) cut a few himself, not in fear of the MPAA, but out of thinking less is more. But trust me, the more the merrier really could have helped this fart of a flix. The disc itself does have alot of special features including deleted scenes (that are terrible), documentaries, and also a gag reel (that doesn't have one single blooper....where's the gag?). But no matter what he added to this presentation, nothing could change just how sophomoric and painfully lame this film is.
An amazingly bad movie, without any of the style this director made with his first three films, avoid at all costs. You'll never look at a wind-blown tree in a park the same way again. Because it will now forever remind you of this lame blowhard of a movie.
(RedSabbath Rating:4.0/10)
Posted By: WinterRaven at 9:45pm, October 12, 2008
This is one of the only movies by this guy that I liked. After seeing Lady In the Water my friend was ready to demand his money back but I found this movie to be quite interesting and it held my interest all the way through. For once I wasn't disappointed in one of his movies. Maybe it was the disturbing way that these characters died that pulled me in but I loved it.
Hey, this movie was good. Granted, not a fourth as good as Lady in the Water, or even a tenth as good as Sixth Sense, but it is watchable. In the words of Eric Cartman, scew you guys, I'm going home
Posted By: MrHorrorfest at 3:24pm, October 5, 2008
It's worth watching.
Posted By: Protecious at 10:37am, September 30, 2008
does anybody notice that the audio microphones could be seen in the film itself? am i the only one that noticed that? that completely destroys a film's experience seeing such a lack of quality and effort being put into this, you get the feeling this was shot in a matter of a week and later re shoots to fill in some of the more "eerie" stuff like the hanging bodies in the trees and etc.
this is the most disapointing m. night film ive ever seen thus far, the ideas werent exactly terrible, but if you want to see a better film about possible global warming related material, i would suggest "the last winter"
The only reason this movie is called The Happening is because during the movie all you will ask yourself is: "what the hell is happening?" don't waste your money.
very creepy, suspensful, overall quite disturbing film with a lot of excellent death scenes. Also makes dead bodies with no death scene quite creepy (in the road, mass haning)
The worst 2008 movie just behind Prom Night this was hilarious the dialogue was stupid, the actors were stupid, this is M Nights Shyamalan worst movie just below lady in the water and the funny thing is that he believes this movie will shock people, scared people and make them cry oh please this movie maked me cry just because it was really funny and its his first R rated film so what? that doesnt means its going to be good so Night pal please stay with your crappy PG13 films and dont go to the next nevel cause youll end up whit the slow burn that will never never will catch fire(like mtr disgusting said)
Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan creates a suspense, and sometimes awkward atmosphere with his latest film The Happening. A natural phenomenon suddenly occurs on the upper east coast of the U.S, making people kill themselves by any means necessary. I have to give credit to Shymalan here because I thought the premise for this film was terrific, though not fully utilized to its maximum potential.
Mark Wahlberg plays a down to earth high school science teacher, which is a step in a new direction for him. I thought he did a good job with what was given to him, he's a normal guy trying to solve what's happening. Zooey Deschannel once again takes the role of an eccentric character. She plays them well but I'd like to see more range from her. John Leguizamo was also solid with the screen time that he had. Now to the famous twist.
The twist that's given away towards the middle of the film might piss a lot of people off. I don't think it deserves the hatred its gotten from critics, but it's also not as a good as the twist in The Sixth Sense or even Unbreakable. However, I think it suited the film fine, and showed extreme originality. If birds are accepted as killers why can't this work?
Furthermore, the dialogue in this film isn't very good. It's pretty atrocious actually. M. Night should see this as a sign and start letting professional screenwriters handle his ideas. He's great behind the camera, just don't touch a pen. The score and cinematography, however, is top notch, which is always the case with him
Ultimately, The Happening isn't as a bad as everyone says it is. The dialouge might be terrible, the love arc between Wahlberg and Deschannel might be underdeveloped and forced,, and the twist might be underwhelming, but I'll recommend this creepy and sometimes goofy/awkward sci-fi thriller from M. Night Shymalan because it works, and it reminded me of one of my personal favorites from Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds.
Ohhhh M. Night how youve disappointed me! I should have stuck to just watching the trailer because all the decent parts were in them. I almost walked out on it! I never walk out on movies! It was beyond bad, beyond boring, beyond pointless. It just kept going nowhere... its like he had an idea but didnt have the rest of the story. M. Nights going to have to really turn it up for his next movie because this one really... sucked!
All around bad movie. This was a pg story with just enough violence to be a rated r movie. Effects were awful, especially the scene in the zoo. Corny corny corny!
I'm baffled. This movie is fucked. The acting isn't so much bad as just strange. One review claimed that the director should not write his own movies because he doesn't understand how humans actually interact. That's the best way I could describe it. The diologue doesn't feel lazy or stale, but alien. Like he learned english by watching corny disaster movies from the 70's and he thinks humans really speak that way.
Regardless, this movie is very interesting, if completely confusing in it's intentions, and worth at least one viewing. The death scenes are also quite brutal. You might be shocked by a few of the more memorable deaths.
I thought it was a pretty good flick. The death scenes were sweet but the overall movie was pretty weird. The acting and music reminded of an old black and white horror movie back in the day.
Terrible movie. M Night needed this to be a hit too. So sad it flopped, I really like him as a director and writer. He always comes up with interesting concepts. But unfortunately, his stories are not resonating with mainstream audiences.
Signs, Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were great. The Village was ok, but Lady in the Water and this are just bad, bad movies.
The Happening. It wasn't Happening...at all. The film sucks on all levels. I have no idea why this movie was marketed as a big summer event and that bold "R" rating (ooh scary M's R. So WHAT!, Just because you have a "R" rating doesn't mean a movie will be better). The music irks me and as tearsdon'tfall7113 quotes, "Does not fit the movie at all." That person is right. The movie WAS good from like... the first 5 minutes but fell into awfulness. This is a very low rental. You have been warned!
joins The Grudge 2, and Prom Night (2008) in my list of the worst horror/thriller movies ever made. Absolutely HORRENDOUS 'acting'. I really also hated the score. It did not fit the movie at all whatsoever. Terrible, terrible movie.
The premise is great but the delivery lacks punch on all fronts. The casting is terrible (the little comatose, mute girl and most of the unknowns with the wooden line readings are clearly M. Night's friends & family). The opening 20 minutes are strong and foreboding, but then the pace turns to a crawl and then ultimately stops moving altogether, which creates ZERO suspense. The ending with the wind and the "unseen" force is a good idea but even Final Destination makes better use of an unseen killer. Here we literally get shot after shot of wind swept trees and fields. Not thrilling... to anyone. Then to make matter worse, the movie "just ends". I love to deeply reflect the endings of movies that "just end" but this one had nothing to reflect upon. Al Gore made a better movie about the same thing (minus all those "special" wind effects). I never thought I'd say this, but Lady in the Water is a better film (though both should be buried with the director and never seen again).
OK, I've read all these reviews and I can say I agree with all of them. If you have watched the trailer you have seen the best part but until you see the movie you do not get the full impact. The construction scene with the workers falling out of the sky is very disturbing as well as sitting in a park with your best friend and suddenly having her stab herself with a crochette needle, these scenes have impact and are very strong. As emotional as the first few minutes are I felt the middle of the film lacked any real emotion at all (now that I think back on the film maybe bad acting did play a factor). During the endless scenes of wind blowing through vegitation I actually felt nervous and for M. Night to do that to me is why my rating is as high as it is.
okay, it started out good and i was way into my popcorn and drink. When people flew off the roof in the construction site scene, I was like....Whaaat?
M. Night is far smarter..he coulda done more, pushed the envelope, broken out of the mold.
I am truly disppointed.
Sadie
M. Night is one of my favorite directors for a number of reasons. I really enjoyed The Happening in spite of the critical reviews that have floated around the net. I love his use of color (yellow again), camera work, and the B movie feel that permeates the movie. This was a huge nod to Rod Serling rather than his usual Hitchcockian nod. This could have been an extended Twilight Zone episode easily. The acting in the movie was purposefully stilted and I found the artistic moves in the film great.
I like movies with a "creepy" premise, you don't need monsters from outer space or demonic possession for it to be scary. I've enjoyed M. Night's films in the past, and for what it's worth The Happening was good, it definitely had it it's moments good and bad.
Going into the theater i wasn't sure i would like the movie casue i am not a big fan of M. Night, but i enjoyed the movie. certianly not he best movie evermade but breaks the mold of most apocalyptic movies. i find it funny how ppl are mad because there was no twist ending, but with twist ending after twist ending, the only way to have a true twist ending is not to have one.
This movie was a decent movie in whole. I will have to say I was let down during certain parts when I realized that this is what the plot is and how it will continue. There where some parts that were seriously edge of your seat scares and it is hard to scare me, but I wanted more of that. About 75% of the movies was not scary. I would have to say over all the movie was good but not great.
I have been an M.Night fan since Sixth Sense, I have enjoyed all this films up until Lady in the Water which just didn't hit the same high as the others by the end. After reading the reviews and checking out other's opinions I went in with a hope for a good film but a small part of me lingered on the film that came before. Now that I've seen the Happening, I can't help but want to see it again.
First off let's start with everyone's hate for the acting. So the acting was strange? yes it was, coming from 2 of my favourite actors and a handful of others that I know and respect from other films. The acting was indeed odd. But I must disagree with a passion that it was BAD acting.
Mark Wahlberg plays a teacher, he spends the majority of his time speaking to teenage students about science. For me the way he acted was just fine. The whole movie lacked the public fury that other disaster-esque movies seem to value. Mark's acting was only strange because for a main character faced with the pressure that he does not have an answer in a situation that he has no control over... He lacks the emotion. My say? It goes with the mood of the rest of the film.
Before I start a rant about it, I'll just cut off by saying that I do not believe that it was a case of bad acting but a part of M.Night's concept. I'd imagine that the actors were told to act that way so they did. Let's face it, the movie wouldn't have been better if they acted like typical hollywood characters.
Anyway. The film centers around Elliot Moore(Wahlberg), his wife (Deschanel), and their friends' child. All running from whatever it is that's plaguing the coast. However you interpret the "happening", it isn't what you'd expect in any other movie. As I read on another review it is a more moral story than a political one and if you go in expecting something other than that, you will be disappointed.
If you didn't like the Village so much because it contained no real monsters, then I would not recommend the Happening to you.
As I say about signs and the village, I see not the problem with The Happening. I guess most people will hate it just because of the strange acting and the not so menacing conflict, but if you take it on board as a moral story and view it for what it is rather than what it's not, then you should have no reason to dislike this film. M. Night has done it again. =D
well i wasnt too disappointed with this movie I thought it was different and strange but seriously mark wahlberg is the worst actor of all time..he was in no way believable!
I decently liked M. Night in the past, but I’m far from a fanboy, so no matter what he did I can’t be too disappointed with it because of hype or respect I have for the man himself. The reason so many reviews are so bad is because the viewer either hates or loves M. Night and they’re opinions of him take or add to their opinion of the movie.
For what it was, I disagree with people who say that it needed a killer or suspense or whatever. The story itself held up just fine, and only bordered on silly slightly (though I could see how some would think it’s ludicrous). Also, all the fanboys who claim the movie was “original” and “deep” are insane. The basic idea—mass suicide with unknown cause—has been done in countless Stephen King novels: The Stand and Cell are the two on the top of my head. *Spoilers* The idea of trees causing this has been done in countless old sci-fi movies like The Forbidden Planet and such. Even the maniac old in the end reminded me of a dumbed-down version of Hoit (sp?) in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. *End spoilers* I can’t name an original idea in the entire plot. As for people who defend Night by saying: “People hate this movie because it is too deep, and they want more popcorn-flick thrillers!” are, once again, very wrong. The Happening takes on the same old global warming banter you’ve heard for years. Deep? Hardly. Even the whole “faith vs. fear” meaning Night implies in his interviews has been done so many times it’s almost a cliché—not that the movie showed that meaning very strongly in the first place, if at all.
It is also falsely advertised as being a violent/gory film. The headshot suicides are cut-off scenes, and any more unpractical suicide scenes are not shown. The most graphic scene shows a severed arm, but it is only on screen for a second. How it earned an R-rating I’ll never understand, especially when Cloverfield showed just about as much blood and got a PG-13 rating. Also, any hope of being disturbed by the images, even though they’re relatively goreless, is minimal. There was a ditzy 12-year-old girl sitting next to me and she was laughing as some of the “disturbing” scenes took place. And M. Night compared his newest movie to a slightly lesser Hostel? What . . .?
I’m not sure if the acting was terrible as much as the characters just looked and acted stupid. You can defend that by saying it was how they were meant to be, but it simply was not pleasant to watch people being so silly in a movie that isn’t meant to be black comedy.
But in the end I think that’s how it’s taken. Black comedy. The opening 20 minutes had me and the younger (and more desensitized) audience unintentionally laughing at the cut-off scenes and the cheesy reactions to deaths. The end is very well done . . . until the last five minutes when it uses an unrealistic TV broadcast to give us the information that should have been shown.
Now my biased opinion:
I’m glad this movie didn’t stoop to the wholehearted clichés that critically acclaimed movies like The Decent, The Orphanage, and The Mist did. But the lack of advertised gore and the poor storytelling just ruined it for me. Worth my $5? I think I got more satisfaction for my money’s worth writing this review than I got out of the movie.
It won’t rock your world, but it’s better than wallowing in boredom. Take it or leave it.
M. Night Syalaman should get a grip and know that the whole "apocalyptic horror" is overdone (War of the Worlds, 28 Weeks/Days Later, Cloverfield, SIGNS). I was watching the movie and I think the only reason why this was his first "R-rated Film" was because of the death scenes that thankfully happen on-screen this time. I walked out of the theater because I wanted to buy a new MP3 player at the mall and from the start of the "climax" I knew there was no plot twist in this film, and I also got really bored. Really boring movie with Mark Wahlberg talking like he's a puberty-stricken teenager.
I found this movie to be choppy, illogical and relatively forgetable. The characters were one dimensional and the plot was idiotic. It had it's moments but other then that...blech.
Nothing new from M. Night Shyamalan. This movie lost interest for most half way through and after this I have lost intrest in M. Night Shyamalan movies.
this film was such a let down!
there was no gore, or very little. which i was expecting. put it this way there is more gore in shaun of the dead!
yes there was no twists but the storyline was aweful anyways! it is clear that film makers are running out of ideas.
also someone didnt do their research i noticed alot of faults in the film.
my boyfriend wanted his money back at the end of the film.
also they kinda stole the idea from 28 weeks later at the end of the film which i couldnt believe coz that is an amaizing film!
I thought this movie was pretty badass!! it was weird hearing it was R so i had to see it, then i did and wow...it had awesome gore effects, not alot of gore but the stuff it showed was amazing. yeah i do agree that the movie was a let down to an extent. once it ends you truly have to use your imagination for what happened...its true that it has no twist, M. NIGHT actually just tossed everything at you and kept everything else hid. overall awesome movie!!
I was really let down. his first "R" rated movie? I'm surprised it even got R. I mean, he's famous for his twists? No twists here. I'm really let down mainly because I saw everything in the trailers. I mean EVERYTHING. All the deaths, sans the two gun deaths are in the trailer. Nothing was surprising, and the marky mark attempt at humor was embarrassing from Shyamalan who is supposed to be a master. I really enjoy (with the exception of a few minor pionts) all of his other films and I respect this guy alot, but he really dropped the ball on this one. I'm sad I was really excited to begin with in anticipation on this. Two thumbs down, his worst film.
This film was so hilariously bad I thought I was watching a parody. The "villain" of the film is so unbelievably funny, you can't help but snort every time it's shown. Mark Wahlberg gives his worst performance since the Funky Bunch. M. Night remains off the tracks. I'll always love 'Sixth Sense' and 'Unbreakable', but all of his other films are turds. The only good part was I didn't see M. Night in the movie. For that, I commend him.
Somehow, this managed to be worse than I expected. I went in with low expectations after having hated all of M. Night's movies, but this honestly took it to an even worse all-time low, which was previously set by Lady in the Water. This was truly terrible.
OK, Im not happy when I come across people who review films and dont know what they are talking about. Case In Point. THe Happening was a good film yet there are hater's out there. I really dont know why, like one guy said people find strange reasons to hate this film. The movie was everything it was supposed to be. Even Mr. Disgusting didnt like the film. That gave me a bad feeling going in but even he was wrong.(just like when he gave "slither" 5 skulls). Anyways I wanted to write this message so people who dont know better dont miss out on this film. The movie is fantastic. One hell of a thrill ride, you will enjoy it if you arent close minded.
For future reviewers, dont open your mouth about a movie unless you have a valid point. One fool on here posted "The movie looked stupid from day one." Yeah, if I seen you in real life I would gut you like a fish.
Liked it. Didn't LOVE it, but I did enjoy most of it. There are too many cliches running rampant in all movies these days that it's nice to watch something a little different - a little off kilter.
This movie was not all i was hoping for but for what it is it's a pretty decent movie. i wish John Leguizamo was in it alot more but thats just me. and idk if i just wasent paying attention but i didnt see the part from the red-band trailer where the guy lays under the lawn-mower, it was a good story though. coulda been alot bloodier but hey, im fine with the whole "you think somthin is gonna happen" feeling but yeah. decent Film 6 outta 10
So before going to see this I had an inkling from the reviews that this may not be so good. the trailers were great for it though and I don't tend to follow reviews especially when it comes to horror films. But there are certain types of horror films you should follow the reviews for. The ones that aim to be more than just a simplistic excercise in scare tactics. those are just plain dumb fun. M. Night Shylamans' movies aim to be more and almost always fail with the exception of Signs. Which kept an incredible amount of suspense up until it's crappy conclusion. I've never been a fan of M. Night Shylaman and I've never understood peoples fascination with him. Beginning with the extremely over rated Sixth Sense. You may love I called it in the first fifteen minutes and its not like that film hasn't been done before and better. Unbreakabale I just thought was plain awful. The Village I thought was alright but called the film halfway through, it really wasn't that big of a twist and Lady in the Water I'm not even sure about.. It wasn't very good but definatly stands as his most original work to date. The problem with Shylaman is that he tries to pass off things that have been done before in his own way. Sometimes it works most of the times it doesn't. The Happening has a pretty good premise which I won't spoil for you in this review because it's the only good thing in the film. First up the film is directed awful it's all over the place and the pacing is just plain boring for the most part. The acting is shameful. It's atrociously bad and very disapointing coming from a pretty good cast. But in their defense they don't have very much to work with at all and its no secret the director sucks. Well let's hope for their sake the film doesn't take them down with it. The dialogue and scene staging are unintentionally laughable for the most part and not even as shocking as the commercials make them out to be. the red band trailers I posted show every half ass gory part in the film. At 91 mins. the film feels like it runs four hours and still ends with little to no explanation for the events that proceeded. Instead we are subjected to horrible charachter setups for people that don't seem real at all. I guess inhis world this is the way people act and react to things. Anyways look theirs nothing good about the ffilm it's scareless. pretty much goreless and ultimatly pointless. It seems to drag on forever to an ending that is so anticlimactic you'll w ant to stab the person next to you. I've never been a fan of Shylaman but now I hate him. this film will bury him. It's not just one of the worst movies of the year, it's one of the worst film ever made. */5
People have unintelligent reasons to hate this movie: People talk weird, there is no villain, there is no twist. I will say that I had low, low expectations for this movie since reading an interview done by the director on The Happening website, in which he basically gave away what's causing the event, so I knew that walking in.
His execution of the movie was well done. The score was good, the actors weren't terrible, and the deaths were excellent. I counted maybe 20 on screen deaths, plus a barrage of deaths that you could hear and witness after the deed is done.
Was it his best? No. Is it worth killing 90 minutes for? Maybe. It depends on if you're the type of person who needs everything spelled out for you, or if you like to think about movies after the initial viewing.
If you want to see a movie just to see a movie, than go see this. If you're a fan of Shamalamadingdong, I think you'll enjoy this. The guy is a genius when it comes to directing, it's just his writing could use some work. The funny scenes were funny, the creepy scenes were creepy, and the movie was enjoyable on a few levels.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS: (and not like flesheater123, where he says spoilers MAY come while he gives away the whole movie)
The end, for not having a "twist," was great. I walked away very, very pleased. Some scenes, including people running away from the wind, were a little cheesy. The overall message of people killing the planet, the planet not standing for it, and forcing people to kill each other before they rid The Earth entirely, is a good concept.
The opening scenes in The Happening were effective-probably because they too closely mimiced Stephen King's far superior Cell. The rest of this movie was unintentionally hilarious.The scene where Mark Wahlberg talks to a plastic tree will almost certainly pick up a Razzie next year on Oscar night. It's sad that the writer/ director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable continues his dizzying spiral into hackdom. For me, the worst major studio release since Jaws The Revenge.
Oh c'mon. I thought this movie was great. It was well thought-out and generally creepy, and it seems that people just dont like it because it is really natural. M is just telling his story, not trying to impress everybody by giving them exactly what they want. You may not like it because it isnt what you want, but try to open you mind to it before you make your opinion definite. Think about it, you may actually like it.
Well all i have to say it that the movie did what i wanted it to do for me. It creeps you out, makes you feel like ehhh maybe it could happen, because plant's do give off some chemicals balances. Like Venus Fly traps can use sound to kill it's prey, etc. So that's the postives for me, the gore and death scenes were very well. A tiger part is really F up. And the rest of the scenes were pretty screwed up and disturbing as hell.
Some were funny and weren't meant to be, but hey wasn't you see a movie a thousands time you get use to the killings. It was slightly oringal.
My negatives of the film are as follow. Please M.night plase write like people speak. People do not speak like they spoke in this movie. Holy Cheese Crackers. who in the hell said's that shit. So for the writing part, it fail's completly.
But it did show a sense of panic, which was good. And it did what it did it freak people out.
yes some scenes were funny but they were meant to be funny to smooth down the pace of the creepiness, were they done bad yes. But did they still make people laugh yes. Look for a part with a Mark and a tree.
Now my only concern on why people seem to hate it is THE ENDING. Spoliers may come.....
the ending was very open, and to me it was perfect. he could do the happening part 2 and pick it up in Paris and have the world die.... But hey we all like different movies. Everybody seems to love indy Jones I hated it, it was the most fakest piece of crap ever. but thats here nor there. So i say spend your mone becus this is M. Nights best movie to date and pretty good for this first R flick. And yes I hated all his other movies....
Ok I can finnaly spill the beans. I warn you, spoiler ahead. You want to know the end of the movie? Well I'll tell you in a sec. If you want to see some cool deaths and have nothing to do this weekend, then go. Yea, some cool gore here and there, but the twist is stupid. If you are going to go be disapointed by the Hulk instead, like me, I'll save you the other waste of time by this bit of info....it's the Earth. The Earth treats humans like a virus and creates "The Happening" to kill off everyone. There, aren't you glad you didn't see it. All that time to figure out that there is no real bad guy. This movie is just one giant collection of everyone going through the motions. However...if you hate giant green guys and want to see this. A guy does get his arms ripped of by tigers.
this movie was just plain crap. first of all, everyone in the film was talking some weird way which made every line in the film just sound weird to begin with. then it goes on that everyone just starts popping themselves off one by one, but yet there are those who are in no way infected right away when everyone else is already killing themselves. i was having a real problem with that. the movie was more comical than anything. the "hot dog guy" is probably the best thing in the whole movie! "The Happening" is just one of those movies that fails in every scene and with every line. when the army guy who remminded my of gomer pile starts taking over, the movie completely lost my interest. if people really want to see it because their such huge fans of Night, then wait for it out on dvd, or better yet until its on cable for free. this movie isnt worth any time watching it, and better yet paying for it to see it in theaters. and as for M. Night, well, after a great start with "The Six Sense," and "Unbreakable" i think hes going down the road of Uwe Boll.
