The Watchers - 2024 (Very Minor Spoilers)
I've been a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan with a few hiccups. I went and saw this one after watching ten seconds of the trailer and I was not disappointed. I would describe this movie as having a dry ending which is unusual for Shyamalan.
The ending was not a big splashy gore-fest that most horror movies employ. There was a big climax that reminded me the chase at the begining of Raiders of the Lost ark. (Start the plane!) The movie had a logic and stuck to it and I really like it when they do that. The "Twist" that Shyamalan is so famous for, was absolutely there, but it was subtle and logical, well, for a horror movie and that in itself was unusual.
This was a forest horror movie and almost every single one uses illusions and delusions and they make no sense and basically the main characters are helpless against them. I really don't like those. This one used the same thing but the characters were aware and it never dominated their actions.
The horror and fear were there, but the sense of logic that underlied everything reduced the fear but made the story make sense. I'd give it an 8 out of 10 for fear. (The movies Blair Witch, Signs and the video games Amnesia: the Dark Descent and Aliens Isolation get 10 out of 10 for fear from me and that's about it. These ratings are extremely personal though. Everyone will be different.)
This reminded me of the Pope's Exorcist, 8 of 10 for fear, but 10 out of 10 for world logic.
If you've seen The Ritual (2017) you will see a lot of similar footage. In fact the stories overlap a fair bit. Both movies are well worth watching. The Waters isn't going to be Shyamalan's most famous movie but it was good. It will have a lower rating because horror is so subjective to personality and the conditions of how you see the movie, what mood you are in and etc. I really enjoyed it.