Lesson Number 2 about Movies

Just when I thought I had learnt all about the things needed to make a failing movie work, out pops another trick. In a B grade horror movie, regardless of how superb its producers claim it will turn out to be, it will ultimately still be a B grade movie. Sixth Sense was M. Night Shyamalan's best piece of work. Every other production since that masterpiece, in my humble opinion, is merely another marker in that downhill spiral. Perhaps the immense success of 6th sense simply made it harder for him to cough out another power B grade flick (On hindsight, Signs wasn't too bad either...). Anyway back to the HAPPENING movie under review here and the elements incorporated into the film which made it a "just-another-abstract-horror-movie". The movie started really well with the suspense genuine and all. The concept of toxic nerve receptor inhibitors released by plants, though not original, was well developed too. However what screwed the movie up eventually was the lousy acting and terrible and abrupt ending. The female lead, whatever her name was, did a really terrible job. And the random appearance of really random characters like the freaky old lady... Sigh... Just wait for the DVD and you'll get what I mean.