By Sarah Sluis
M. Night Shyamalan, the director who has tried to assume the
mantle of high-minded suspense (a post
vacated by Hitchcock), has moved
in the opposite direction, making a deal with Media Rights Capital to
produce three genre films in three years. The first film, Devil,
will be based on a story by Shyamalan, and include his creative and
casting input, but he will not write or direct. Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night), will pen the screenplay and John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine)
will direct. This deal makes sense to me, since Shyamalan's
twist-oriented sensibilities have become so ingrained in audience's
minds that their expectation of the twist interferes with how the film
itself sets up the twist. With different writing and direction,
perhaps the films will seem new enough to surprise audiences. While
they're calling the genre "supernatural thriller," I wonder how closely
the films will resonate with the extremely profitable and loyal
ticket-buying horror audience. Supernatural thriller to me reads
"horror lite." It's the kind of film that would appeal to me, a horror
coward, but not thrill- and gore-seeking horror fans.
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