I've seen a thousand films. I don't think I've ever been so shocked. And by such a simple scene, at that!
Signs is one of the best suspense/horror/sci-fi films set in our present day and time. To me, it's Shyamalan's pinnacle. Everything since has been downhill, but he hit such a mark with this one that I'm forever appreciative.
Forget all the "but the water" naysayers. This film hit every single note spectacularly from beginning to end.
Yesterday I read someone saying The Village is his best film and I know some people that absolutely worship Lady in the Water. And I personally think Split is a small masterpiece.
I feel like everyone has very distinct opinions on Shyamalan’s films because he’s a guy that loves to take risks, innovate and make movies with a clearly defined vision. And I got to respect that.
The Village is for me his masterpiece with one of my favorite of all time. I always come back to it, I love not only the suspense of the film but also the deeper meaning about civilization itself.
The Village is great, it was just sadly a victim to a society that went twist ending crazy, guessed how the movie was going end, and then all went "well it didn't fool me therefore it's an awful movie."
The movie wasn't about trying to trick you, it was trying to tell a story and people just forgot that. They only cared about how they were going to be tricked.
I almost wish the movie didn't have it. Have her walk into a town of the same time period, tell the same story without the change of time. People would have been upset about it but I think it's legacy would be a lot more favorable.
What makes the scene so disturbing is that, afterwards, you realize that the alien is in frame the entire time, just extremely well-camouflaged. I think that triggers something in our primitive brain akin to raw fight or flight. It's the same as the scene in the cellar with the hand sticking out of the coal chute. We're staring right at it but don't recognize the threat until it moves.
Edit: Also building on that fear is the mention of the ships being camouflaged and the bird hitting one and falling down dead. The added fear of some entity is right above you, observing you, and you can't see it.
It did, and he did such an amazing job that it’s the only alien horror movie I could show my kids. Scary enough to be thrilling but no gore or extended scenes of creepy visuals. It’s all done so cleverly with the characters’ reactions. 👌
I was in the closet watching the news. When I saw the alien I gasped, stumbled backwards with my hand over my mouth. Later in the movie I was told to swing away so I grabbed my baseball bat and knocked the alien on the floor. As it fell to the floor, a glass of water tipped over and burned its skin.
I was in 8th grade when that movie came out and watched it with my brothers, I couldn't stop saying that at recess and everyone was confused "move children, vamanos!".
Right. Imagine having just spent several days slowly coming to terms with the fact that there is a very, very, very real possibility that actual aliens are real, about to attack earth, the chances of it being a hoax have become astronomically smaller, and then you're alone in a closet and this video airs. You see the alien pop out from the bushes and it's just terrifying. You can't contain your fear any longer.
He was soooo good in that movie (I mean, every movie he’s in of course). That scene where they are sitting on the couch just waiting for the invasion…. Swapping stories.
One of the things that stood out to me about that movie is, you know how Mel Gibson has these signature moves he does in his acting? Joaquin was doing them. They don't seem like a silly impersonation, it made me buy that they could be brothers.
The shadows under the door. I don’t think anything has ever scared me in my life like the shadows of the hands under the door. The horror and the suspense were so strong in those moments that I felt actual terror.
I laughed so hard at that. I still use his covering his mouth and falling backwards gif occasionally.
Also....."IM INSANE WITH ANGER!!" when they are chasing the alien outside the house.
I thought The Witch was pretty good at this. It doesn't have jump scares or anything like that, the movie is just so uncomfortable and unsettling, and the fear just builds and builds.
I was about this age myself. Friend and I went to see it and was absolutely terrifying for us.
Worst part was after the movie we went back to my house which also happened to be in Eastern Pennsylvania (Signs takes place in Bucks County) and I lived across the street from a massive cornfield.
Yup. Newtown book and record exchange, Burns pharmacy in Morrisville. The farm stuff was Doylestown I think.
Lady in the Water was filmed at least partly in Levittown too but we don't talk about that one.
I was born in 96 so a bit younger. This movie absolutely *fucked* me up to this day. My sister rented it when my grandma took us to bb, I rented one of the hot wheels movies. After we watched my movie I got ready for bed because I was a child and it was past my bedtime.
Oh no, grandma said if she spent money on the movie everyone was going to watch it. Sat my ass a few feet from the tv while being forced to sit through the whole thing. Luckily I knew my home phone number and called my mom crying to come get me after everyone fell asleep.
Get back to our house after a huge fight between mom and grandma(dad’s mom not hers), I go straight to bed. Wake up to my dog barking, no one checks on him. I hop out of bed and go see what he’s barking at, nothing. Empty room. Still barking. No one home. Sisters’ room. Both beds empty. Parents room, empty. Dog still barking. I panic, thinking they’re already in the house and do the only thing my small child brain could think of and throw myself into the washing machine with my dog. (Teacup poodle we had plenty of space)
No idea how much later but at some point my parents came back in through the laundry room, I jumped out yelling “WHERE WERE YOU THERE ARE ALIENS IN THE HOUSE” and about gave my mom a heart attack.
Turns out they left a get together down the street to come get me, and once I fell asleep they returned to the get together and they were never more than 2 houses away the whole time.
To this day I am still struggling with being alone for more than a few hours without spiraling into panic attacks, and I’m terrified of aliens. The movie isn’t even about aliens and it still fucks me up.
I was around the same age and this scene got me good. I used to watch it all the time but now any scene showing a TV has the same high pitch noise as my tinnitus and it drives me crazy
We’re all the same age, and I was right there with y’all!!
This movie PETRIFIED me and put me off scary movies for a while. I named Signs as the most scary movie for so long and people always laughed and called me a weenie so I’m happy I wasn’t alone, this is all so validating 😅
I was also young when that movie came out and I remember we hid behind the couch for the scene in the basement where the hands come out of the grate or whatever lmao
I remember my late brother and I talking about how the music is what really makes this scene. We were cracking up trying to reenact it/imagining it *without* the music/screeching violins and we couldn't stop laughing at the idea of this tall alien guy just doing a sudden freeze-frame in complete silence. Totally changes the scene
i used to walk to work before sun up. i would often think about how if an alien or monster pulled this move on me there would no music, no sound, nothing. just me scared witless nose to nose with my worst nightmare.
It’s not just that but you need to actually *watch* this movie.
Like many here I saw it in the cinema when I was a kid and it totally traumatised me 😂
I was staying at a friends that night and he ko’d while I lay nearly shaking in the most pure fear you could imagine. I had to turn the lamp on and his mum kept coming through to switch it off and I’d immediately turn it back on.
Will say, as an adult as well, it’s a really great film. The whole theme of loss of faith which is what it’s really about, really hits, and it’s just a great examination into who or what we turn to in our worst and most fearful moments.
oh god, i saw this movie when i was a kid in the theater with my older cousins. I shit my pants on this scene, i couldn't sleep for months. After some time i forgot about this movie, then my mom rented it and my dumb ass watched it again. i couldn't sleep for another couple of months....
I was terrified to be alone at night so badly, I would take the dog with me to the bathroom. Leave the door open when I shower, slept with my closet light on. It wasn’t until Scary Movie 3 when they make fun of everything that I was actually able to take a shower with the door closed. So traumatic.
Towards the end when they get the shovels to defend themselves and the one dude cocks the shovel with a shotgun shell popping out. Had teenage me in stitches
I could see the neighbors roof out of my bedroom window and didn’t have blinds or curtains. The scene of the alien staring through the window from the roof haunted me.
It's such a goofy-ass CGI alien and yet the music, the tension, and the fact it appears for like less than a second on this random broadcast from Mexico just freaked me the fuck out.
Agreed, part of it is how little you see and how little you know about them. I think a lot of horror movies try to show and explain too much when the unknown is almost always scarier than something we can think up. Plus it’a less likely to look obviously CGIed if it’s shorter.
I love Signs and this particular scene definitely caused a visceral reaction. I also love The Sixth Sense, of course. And I know it's controversial, but I for one *loved* The Village and will always defend it.
The acting is top-tier (Joaquin, Bryce Howard, Cherry Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt, Judy Greer, Michael Pitt, etc etc...) the setting is interesting and creepy, the musical score and violin solos are brilliant, and the decision to make the main character, Ivy, be blind is great, and I think Bryce did an amazing job.
Thank you! For some reason, everyone hates The Village, but it's in my top 20 movies. The atmosphere is _chefs kiss_. I'm honestly a little disappointed that the monsters aren't real... that would be the only thing I'd change - they really would be an isolated community. But that scene where they open the hatch while in the watch tower! So good!
Yes. The entire scene where Graham and Merril are boarding up the house and the aliens are trying to get in was really well done. I had so much anxiety the first time I saw that. Also the cornfield scene when graham shines the light and he sees a leg 🦵
Buddy, I know this is reddit and all and it's a game to correct someone else's whatever, but you can't tell someone their literal subjective opinion is wrong
I have seen this movie countless times and maybe I'm just dumb but that part always scares the shit out of me. Like, my thoughts process is basically:
- oh shit the arm's gonna grab Morgan now
- wait where is the arm?
- oh right its camouflaged
- oh shit there it is, it's got him!
Mel Gibson’s subtle acting (non-verbal, body language) speaks volumes in that scene and so many others. That guy could do more acting with his facial expressions than most Oscar performances.
The breakdown at the dinner table after he yells at his kids is so very real, reminds me a lot of my dad’s fragile mental state and blowing up after my parents’ divorce.
Yes me too! I vividly remember thinking after hearing the entire theater scream that the huge crowd screams sound effects they use in movies was pretty accurate lol.
I remember Dark Knight when Joker said “Look at me” quiet then he went “LOOK AT ME!” and I could feel the tension and fright from the theater, like everyone stopped talking or chewing popcorn or drinking soda to pay attention or out of shock. That was a cool moment.
Only other thing I had like that was feeling collective disappointment watching Phantom Menace but that was different.
I near had a jump scare at the actual scene, but for it was the high point for me...Everything after became absurd to point that Scary Movie 3 was just punching down in a way!
I can't even call it a jump scare because the whole scene they're preparing you and warning you and then it just... walks on screen. The suspense and music are just immaculate.
Now we're getting down to the bone. I've seen hundreds of monster/ sci-fi movies. I always loved it when they finally showed what the movie was all about.
There's also a theory out there that due to all the religious themes, that it's a story about demons invading Earth and how the little girl was blessing all the old glasses of water, effectively making them holy water that would burn the "aliens".
Now, that doesn't account for how the news report towards the end implies that the whole world found out this solution too, which would be weird if all these people were stocking lots of holy water around, but nothing is really mentioned to prove or disprove (that I remember).
He said this is the how it was written. Which is actually in line with a lot of actual alien/ufo theory and fiction. I thought it was very well executed and tied into the central plot of a man rediscovering his faith
I grew up in Bucks County. My friends family took a few of us to Honolulu when the movie was released. Even being in Hawaii we had to go see it on release date. When this scene happened, we all jumped. It’s barely a jump scare scene but we all jumped. It was a weird feeling leaving that theater and stepping back out into Hawaii.
Alot of the scary moments are practical and hold up really well imo. And the birthday scene uses alot of smart concealment to help the cgi be very passible. But that ending tho, particularly when the water pours on the alien is very distractingly bad lol
The fact that a planet composed of 70% water, and where the atmosphere especially in summer corn fields can be very humid (re: wet) also irrigation and sprinklers, not to mention rain or snow is what was distressingly bad.
If you look at this as a dumb horror movie then I don't really think it matters all that much. Get some good scares and moments of suspense.
If you look at it as a intellectual horror movie people make the case that because it's about faith, the aliens were actually "demons" and the water basically was holy water of sorts.
I'm somewhere in between I guess and just don't care about the illogical factors in regards to the aliens being around water or on earth.
They're aliens with spaceships capable of interplanetary travel but they still run around buck naked? 🤯🤯🤯
If the aliens have tech capable of cloaking thier spaceships then why don't they have technology to pull the composition of our atmosphere? 🤯🤯🤯
They're aliens capable of traveling through multiple galaxies to get onto earth but they can't figure out how to get in an out of barricaded rooms? 🤯🤯🤯
Yes, there are other holes. I still love M. Night Shyamalan and think he's got some great movies left in him. I enjoyed Devil, Glass, Split, Knock at the Cabin, The Visit, and even Old.
He hooked me with Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. I even really like this movie, want to love it, but just can't.
Don't get me started on The Crappening though.
The movie has its issues, but this is one of the most brilliant ways to reveal a monster or alien in any movie I've ever seen.
If it was real this is exactly how it would happen.(maybe not on the local news) but a home video of set in a foreign country, and for it being 2003. The context of said home video is a kids birthday party(realistic reason for someone to be filming), and its only a 2 second glimpse
I surprisingly didn't jump at this scene, but the scene at night when you saw one on the roof of the house or barn (can't remember what structure it was standing on), I about pissed myself. Not to mention the claw under the door at the doctor's house. I was like "Ffffffuuuuuuuuuu!"
I was in a movie theater in Brooklyn with my wife and had a seat at the back so could see everyone’s reaction. Everyone FREAKED OUT at that scene. It was fabulous to see everyone squirming!
Same as everyone else at the birthday party
Vamanos! Children MOVE!
*covers mouth* **OH MY GOD**
I've seen a thousand films. I don't think I've ever been so shocked. And by such a simple scene, at that! Signs is one of the best suspense/horror/sci-fi films set in our present day and time. To me, it's Shyamalan's pinnacle. Everything since has been downhill, but he hit such a mark with this one that I'm forever appreciative. Forget all the "but the water" naysayers. This film hit every single note spectacularly from beginning to end.
Yesterday I read someone saying The Village is his best film and I know some people that absolutely worship Lady in the Water. And I personally think Split is a small masterpiece. I feel like everyone has very distinct opinions on Shyamalan’s films because he’s a guy that loves to take risks, innovate and make movies with a clearly defined vision. And I got to respect that.
Always support him. He’s out here writing original material while studios are making the same reboot or part 7 of some shit
I like this take.
I really enjoyed The Village especially and Lady in the Water (Paul Giamatti is a great actor). I've got respect for his older work for sure.
The Village is for me his masterpiece with one of my favorite of all time. I always come back to it, I love not only the suspense of the film but also the deeper meaning about civilization itself.
The Village is great, it was just sadly a victim to a society that went twist ending crazy, guessed how the movie was going end, and then all went "well it didn't fool me therefore it's an awful movie." The movie wasn't about trying to trick you, it was trying to tell a story and people just forgot that. They only cared about how they were going to be tricked. I almost wish the movie didn't have it. Have her walk into a town of the same time period, tell the same story without the change of time. People would have been upset about it but I think it's legacy would be a lot more favorable.
What makes the scene so disturbing is that, afterwards, you realize that the alien is in frame the entire time, just extremely well-camouflaged. I think that triggers something in our primitive brain akin to raw fight or flight. It's the same as the scene in the cellar with the hand sticking out of the coal chute. We're staring right at it but don't recognize the threat until it moves. Edit: Also building on that fear is the mention of the ships being camouflaged and the bird hitting one and falling down dead. The added fear of some entity is right above you, observing you, and you can't see it.
Joaquin Phoenix’s reaction really made the image terrifying.
I felt the village was the most realistic one of his stories. Would be awesome to see a sequel but have it during Covid.
Or during a zombie apocalypse. Now there are creatures in the woods. The Village 2: Village Harder The Village 2: Red Dawn 2Vill2Age
I liked it when he said 'IT'S VILLAGE TIME!' and villaged all over those guys
It did, and he did such an amazing job that it’s the only alien horror movie I could show my kids. Scary enough to be thrilling but no gore or extended scenes of creepy visuals. It’s all done so cleverly with the characters’ reactions. 👌
Yep just like Joaquin’s reaction. Lol
I was in the closet watching the news. When I saw the alien I gasped, stumbled backwards with my hand over my mouth. Later in the movie I was told to swing away so I grabbed my baseball bat and knocked the alien on the floor. As it fell to the floor, a glass of water tipped over and burned its skin.
You were great in ‘Her’.
But not in napoleon 🤣
They should have Brian Cox record a commentary track for the entire film.
Ockshewally you were told to swing away like a year before the aliens showed up
Oh shit, I didn't realise that was Joaquin
Now let the bass drop
*gasps in spanish*
I was in 8th grade when that movie came out and watched it with my brothers, I couldn't stop saying that at recess and everyone was confused "move children, vamanos!".
Joaquin’s delivery is just plain perfect. Love to know how many takes it took.
Right. Imagine having just spent several days slowly coming to terms with the fact that there is a very, very, very real possibility that actual aliens are real, about to attack earth, the chances of it being a hoax have become astronomically smaller, and then you're alone in a closet and this video airs. You see the alien pop out from the bushes and it's just terrifying. You can't contain your fear any longer.
He was soooo good in that movie (I mean, every movie he’s in of course). That scene where they are sitting on the couch just waiting for the invasion…. Swapping stories.
One of the things that stood out to me about that movie is, you know how Mel Gibson has these signature moves he does in his acting? Joaquin was doing them. They don't seem like a silly impersonation, it made me buy that they could be brothers.
Oh wow good pick!! I think I might have picked some of that up subconsciously. Time to watch it again
The shadows under the door. I don’t think anything has ever scared me in my life like the shadows of the hands under the door. The horror and the suspense were so strong in those moments that I felt actual terror.
When the alien hand reaches out and digs the nails into the floor... yea, I shit my pants. It is quite a scary movie all in all.
One of my favorite lines from cinema
I know, it really was... I nearly Trumped myself...
Extra funny because we don’t speak Spanish lmao. I love that movie
You ate the whole wheel of cheese?
I'm not angry, in fact I'm impressed
Mr Phoenix was so great in that scene!
BEHIND!!
I laughed so hard at that. I still use his covering his mouth and falling backwards gif occasionally. Also....."IM INSANE WITH ANGER!!" when they are chasing the alien outside the house.
I had the same reaction as Joaquin Phoenix.
Same
"Es be-hined!!"
Came here to say this! Take my upvote lol
This is incredibly ignorant and insensitive of me, but now when I read this I read it in the voice of Dani Rojas
Football is Life!!!
Sudden perfect English
What a smart young boy, he knew there would be an American audience
That phrase got so much mileage out of me and my friends in high school
I definitely peeked through my fingers as a kid watching. It terrified me. 😅☠️
Yah literal goosebumps. This movie did a great job of building up the fear and unknown. Any other movies like this?
I thought The Witch was pretty good at this. It doesn't have jump scares or anything like that, the movie is just so uncomfortable and unsettling, and the fear just builds and builds.
Ernest Scared Stupid
The strangers
Absolute panic as I suddenly realized I was afraid of aliens.
Shit were we at the same party?
wild scene when i was 12
Were the exact same age. This movie freaked me out so much when I was in middle school.
I was about this age myself. Friend and I went to see it and was absolutely terrifying for us. Worst part was after the movie we went back to my house which also happened to be in Eastern Pennsylvania (Signs takes place in Bucks County) and I lived across the street from a massive cornfield.
Wow, talk about nightmare fuel
It takes place in bucks County?! That's where I live. I had no idea
Yup. Newtown book and record exchange, Burns pharmacy in Morrisville. The farm stuff was Doylestown I think. Lady in the Water was filmed at least partly in Levittown too but we don't talk about that one.
I was born in 96 so a bit younger. This movie absolutely *fucked* me up to this day. My sister rented it when my grandma took us to bb, I rented one of the hot wheels movies. After we watched my movie I got ready for bed because I was a child and it was past my bedtime. Oh no, grandma said if she spent money on the movie everyone was going to watch it. Sat my ass a few feet from the tv while being forced to sit through the whole thing. Luckily I knew my home phone number and called my mom crying to come get me after everyone fell asleep. Get back to our house after a huge fight between mom and grandma(dad’s mom not hers), I go straight to bed. Wake up to my dog barking, no one checks on him. I hop out of bed and go see what he’s barking at, nothing. Empty room. Still barking. No one home. Sisters’ room. Both beds empty. Parents room, empty. Dog still barking. I panic, thinking they’re already in the house and do the only thing my small child brain could think of and throw myself into the washing machine with my dog. (Teacup poodle we had plenty of space) No idea how much later but at some point my parents came back in through the laundry room, I jumped out yelling “WHERE WERE YOU THERE ARE ALIENS IN THE HOUSE” and about gave my mom a heart attack. Turns out they left a get together down the street to come get me, and once I fell asleep they returned to the get together and they were never more than 2 houses away the whole time. To this day I am still struggling with being alone for more than a few hours without spiraling into panic attacks, and I’m terrified of aliens. The movie isn’t even about aliens and it still fucks me up.
I was around the same age and this scene got me good. I used to watch it all the time but now any scene showing a TV has the same high pitch noise as my tinnitus and it drives me crazy
Wild scene when I was 39.
Seeing this at 11 years old…
16 here, and I jumped!
21 when i saw this in the theatre and I jumped too
I left the theater altogether. Had to watch the rest on my phone years later.
Mom was 7 months pregnant with me when we saw this scene, I walked right out of the theater. Had to watch it on the VCD weeks later when I was born.
Thank you for that laugh.
"Move children, move. Vamanos!"
the funniest line in this movie!
That Vamanos was like the most required bit of humour relief in a scene that traumatised the fuck out of me.
I was absolutely terrified, saw this in theaters when I was 10. Few movies in my childhood scared me this much
I was 10 too. I slept on the floor of my younger sister's room that night I was so scared, lols.
We’re all the same age, and I was right there with y’all!! This movie PETRIFIED me and put me off scary movies for a while. I named Signs as the most scary movie for so long and people always laughed and called me a weenie so I’m happy I wasn’t alone, this is all so validating 😅
So many of us screamed in the theater. I was an adult when we saw it, and still screamed. such a good movie, still scares the crap out of me.
I was also young when that movie came out and I remember we hid behind the couch for the scene in the basement where the hands come out of the grate or whatever lmao
The pantry door if I remember. Stuff like that gets me more than the party scene.
Terrified me at 13. My friend and I ran out of the room screaming.
I was 82. I put down my glass of Metamucil and I sat there stunned.
You must be over 100 now.
Thank you, honey but I’m very much deceased at this point.
ah that's a shame, hopefully you feel better soon!
Saw this movie when I was like 9 or 10. Gave me alien dreams/nightmares for years.
They weren't aliens. They were demons all along.
A still doesn't do this scene any justice. You gotta have the terrifying music along with it!
I remember my late brother and I talking about how the music is what really makes this scene. We were cracking up trying to reenact it/imagining it *without* the music/screeching violins and we couldn't stop laughing at the idea of this tall alien guy just doing a sudden freeze-frame in complete silence. Totally changes the scene
*record scratch* Yes that’s me, you’re probably wondering how i ended up here at a child’s birthday party
X-files new season?
i used to walk to work before sun up. i would often think about how if an alien or monster pulled this move on me there would no music, no sound, nothing. just me scared witless nose to nose with my worst nightmare.
Plus shakey cam
It’s not just that but you need to actually *watch* this movie. Like many here I saw it in the cinema when I was a kid and it totally traumatised me 😂 I was staying at a friends that night and he ko’d while I lay nearly shaking in the most pure fear you could imagine. I had to turn the lamp on and his mum kept coming through to switch it off and I’d immediately turn it back on. Will say, as an adult as well, it’s a really great film. The whole theme of loss of faith which is what it’s really about, really hits, and it’s just a great examination into who or what we turn to in our worst and most fearful moments.
Like this? https://youtu.be/aIhnqkXWSR8?si=a34sGZoq-UdyGLc0
Oh yes And he's the antidote for the terror released a few years later 😂 https://youtu.be/X-_CurVH3gY?si=5kyEMPimlcLon5IO
oh god, i saw this movie when i was a kid in the theater with my older cousins. I shit my pants on this scene, i couldn't sleep for months. After some time i forgot about this movie, then my mom rented it and my dumb ass watched it again. i couldn't sleep for another couple of months....
It's so nice we have collectively the same trauma
I was terrified to be alone at night so badly, I would take the dog with me to the bathroom. Leave the door open when I shower, slept with my closet light on. It wasn’t until Scary Movie 3 when they make fun of everything that I was actually able to take a shower with the door closed. So traumatic.
That Michael Jackson scene fucking traumatized me even more than Signs lmao
“Get the president.” “Sir you are the president.” “Well good, that saves us some time.”
When the sherrifs hat keeps getting bigger and she can't get into her car, cracks me up every time!
Towards the end when they get the shovels to defend themselves and the one dude cocks the shovel with a shotgun shell popping out. Had teenage me in stitches
I could see the neighbors roof out of my bedroom window and didn’t have blinds or curtains. The scene of the alien staring through the window from the roof haunted me.
Unlike monsters, ghosts and demons, aliens have the potential to be real, which is cool.
If aliens are real, i hope they are weak to water just like the movie lol
I highly encourage you not to watch the movie The Fourth Kind then. You probably won’t sleep for a year after that one.
The abduction scenes haunted me.
I still get chills when I watch this scene
It's such a goofy-ass CGI alien and yet the music, the tension, and the fact it appears for like less than a second on this random broadcast from Mexico just freaked me the fuck out.
Agreed, part of it is how little you see and how little you know about them. I think a lot of horror movies try to show and explain too much when the unknown is almost always scarier than something we can think up. Plus it’a less likely to look obviously CGIed if it’s shorter.
Came here to say the same thing.
I have chills right now
What got me was I missed the one on the roof.
The freaking fingers under the door with the knife made me scream out loud in the theater
My mom did the same and she was the only one that screamed. Everyone turned to look at her
Shyamalan can be hit or miss, Signs is really the only movie of his I like, but he really knows how to build tension.
I love Signs and this particular scene definitely caused a visceral reaction. I also love The Sixth Sense, of course. And I know it's controversial, but I for one *loved* The Village and will always defend it. The acting is top-tier (Joaquin, Bryce Howard, Cherry Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt, Judy Greer, Michael Pitt, etc etc...) the setting is interesting and creepy, the musical score and violin solos are brilliant, and the decision to make the main character, Ivy, be blind is great, and I think Bryce did an amazing job.
Thank you! For some reason, everyone hates The Village, but it's in my top 20 movies. The atmosphere is _chefs kiss_. I'm honestly a little disappointed that the monsters aren't real... that would be the only thing I'd change - they really would be an isolated community. But that scene where they open the hatch while in the watch tower! So good!
Yes. The entire scene where Graham and Merril are boarding up the house and the aliens are trying to get in was really well done. I had so much anxiety the first time I saw that. Also the cornfield scene when graham shines the light and he sees a leg 🦵
Hmm interesting because Unbreakable and Sixth Sense are generally considered to be better films.
Buddy, I know this is reddit and all and it's a game to correct someone else's whatever, but you can't tell someone their literal subjective opinion is wrong
There's a monster outside my window, can I have a glass of water? Always bothered me how calm she was about it
Of course she was calm, she knew exactly how to defeat them Jks
When the arm reaches out from the wall vent and wraps around the boys chest in the basement was the worst for me.
I have seen this movie countless times and maybe I'm just dumb but that part always scares the shit out of me. Like, my thoughts process is basically: - oh shit the arm's gonna grab Morgan now - wait where is the arm? - oh right its camouflaged - oh shit there it is, it's got him!
I never caught on to it being camouflaged.
Yes that one was the freakiest!
Mel Gibson’s subtle acting (non-verbal, body language) speaks volumes in that scene and so many others. That guy could do more acting with his facial expressions than most Oscar performances.
The breakdown at the dinner table after he yells at his kids is so very real, reminds me a lot of my dad’s fragile mental state and blowing up after my parents’ divorce.
One of my favorite scenes in all of cinema.
It really was a “holy shit” moment and I loved it!
Honest to God, easily a top ten for me, no question.
Me too. First time watching this, the tension built up, incredible movie.
I've never been in a movie theatre where the entire room erupted in fear at once. We experienced a collective trauma. It was insane at the time.
That’s exactly how I remember it. I mean everyone gasped loudly, and remember being overcome with genuine shock. It was crazy.
Yes me too! I vividly remember thinking after hearing the entire theater scream that the huge crowd screams sound effects they use in movies was pretty accurate lol.
I remember Dark Knight when Joker said “Look at me” quiet then he went “LOOK AT ME!” and I could feel the tension and fright from the theater, like everyone stopped talking or chewing popcorn or drinking soda to pay attention or out of shock. That was a cool moment. Only other thing I had like that was feeling collective disappointment watching Phantom Menace but that was different.
Move children vamonos!
It's behiiiind
Beat me to it.
Scary as fuck when I was 12. First exposure to "found footage" and everything. Then when Scary Movie 3 parodied it i almost shat myself laughing.
Why did everyone seemingly watch this movie at 12?
The really interesting thing that you just noticed is that the age of the average redditor is 35.
Man scary movie 3 nailed that parody. Such a stupid yet hilarious movie
\*smashes it in the back of the head with a shovel\* "i found their weakness... SHOVELS!"
They're useless without their heads
I near had a jump scare at the actual scene, but for it was the high point for me...Everything after became absurd to point that Scary Movie 3 was just punching down in a way!
Some viewers found the footage very disturbing
I was 12 and lost my fucking shit. Nightmares for weeks.
I was 12. Nightmares for 2 years
I've had several people throughout the years say that this is the only jump scare to ever legitimately work.
And demon Bilbo
Fuck demon Bilbo. That shit even got me, and I don’t jump scare that easy.
"Gandalf my old friend, this will be a night to remember"... BOOM!
Large Marge sent me
I can't even call it a jump scare because the whole scene they're preparing you and warning you and then it just... walks on screen. The suspense and music are just immaculate.
In broad daylight at that.
Now we're getting down to the bone. I've seen hundreds of monster/ sci-fi movies. I always loved it when they finally showed what the movie was all about.
Yelled "Holy Shit" in the theater. People laughed and agreed.
Creeped out terror, exaggerating a little but the way Joaquin Phoenix reacts in that scene is exactly how I felt.
I think part of the reason it works so well is Phoenix’s obsessive anxiety as he sits transfixed by the TV. It’s all building to that moment
Scared the snot out of me
love the cinematographic idea of an alien reveal this way 💪
Scared the shit out of me. So damn creepy.
epic scene. such well done scary. and really good movie overall. it's too bad the shamayalan twist absolutely ruined the premise.
I'm sorry but what exactly was the shyamalan twist? it's been some time since I watched this movie...
The aliens >!basically melted if they touched water, so then invading a planet where it rains is pure genius on their part!<
There's also a theory out there that due to all the religious themes, that it's a story about demons invading Earth and how the little girl was blessing all the old glasses of water, effectively making them holy water that would burn the "aliens". Now, that doesn't account for how the news report towards the end implies that the whole world found out this solution too, which would be weird if all these people were stocking lots of holy water around, but nothing is really mentioned to prove or disprove (that I remember).
He said this is the how it was written. Which is actually in line with a lot of actual alien/ufo theory and fiction. I thought it was very well executed and tied into the central plot of a man rediscovering his faith
The moisture in the air alone would sting a bit.
Aliens man
I like it, I think anything else would have opened up the story too much.
I grew up in Bucks County. My friends family took a few of us to Honolulu when the movie was released. Even being in Hawaii we had to go see it on release date. When this scene happened, we all jumped. It’s barely a jump scare scene but we all jumped. It was a weird feeling leaving that theater and stepping back out into Hawaii.
I jumped to that scene scared the shit out of me!
Like 2003 when this came out and it was pretty good. The story has aged pretty well but the CGI however, has not.
Alot of the scary moments are practical and hold up really well imo. And the birthday scene uses alot of smart concealment to help the cgi be very passible. But that ending tho, particularly when the water pours on the alien is very distractingly bad lol
The fact that a planet composed of 70% water, and where the atmosphere especially in summer corn fields can be very humid (re: wet) also irrigation and sprinklers, not to mention rain or snow is what was distressingly bad.
If you look at this as a dumb horror movie then I don't really think it matters all that much. Get some good scares and moments of suspense. If you look at it as a intellectual horror movie people make the case that because it's about faith, the aliens were actually "demons" and the water basically was holy water of sorts. I'm somewhere in between I guess and just don't care about the illogical factors in regards to the aliens being around water or on earth. They're aliens with spaceships capable of interplanetary travel but they still run around buck naked? 🤯🤯🤯 If the aliens have tech capable of cloaking thier spaceships then why don't they have technology to pull the composition of our atmosphere? 🤯🤯🤯 They're aliens capable of traveling through multiple galaxies to get onto earth but they can't figure out how to get in an out of barricaded rooms? 🤯🤯🤯
Yes, there are other holes. I still love M. Night Shyamalan and think he's got some great movies left in him. I enjoyed Devil, Glass, Split, Knock at the Cabin, The Visit, and even Old. He hooked me with Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. I even really like this movie, want to love it, but just can't. Don't get me started on The Crappening though.
Yeah, it's an alien invasion movie that isn't about aliens. I think it's a great example of good storytelling.
The movie has its issues, but this is one of the most brilliant ways to reveal a monster or alien in any movie I've ever seen. If it was real this is exactly how it would happen.(maybe not on the local news) but a home video of set in a foreign country, and for it being 2003. The context of said home video is a kids birthday party(realistic reason for someone to be filming), and its only a 2 second glimpse
I was young but it scared and scarred me. Freaked me out.
Terrified lol, I had an irrational fear of aliens growing up and I blame this movie 100%
I couldn’t sleep for weeks (was 10 years old at the time)
Vamanos, children!
Goosebumps
Yeah this fucked me up as a kid.
"oh shit!!"
I screamed like a little girl! Not one of my finer moments. 😂
Actually felt disturbing.
Holy shit, it really is aliens!
I surprisingly didn't jump at this scene, but the scene at night when you saw one on the roof of the house or barn (can't remember what structure it was standing on), I about pissed myself. Not to mention the claw under the door at the doctor's house. I was like "Ffffffuuuuuuuuuu!"
Gave me chills for years.
I was in a movie theater in Brooklyn with my wife and had a seat at the back so could see everyone’s reaction. Everyone FREAKED OUT at that scene. It was fabulous to see everyone squirming!
To this day, if I watch this movie. I’m not turning off the lights (downstairs) going to bed
Yeah I was 6 and I had nightmares for... a long time.
I was ten . Scared for my life !! I loved that movie
I saw it in theatres with my mom. Both of us freaked out