Halloween Pick of the Week: The Sixth Sense
By: Emily Morgan
In 1999, director M. Night Shyamalan had a breakthrough success with the release of his third feature, The Sixth Sense. The movie, a supernatural drama starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, and Olivia Williams, grossed over $670 million worldwide and earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Shyamalan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Osment), and Best Supporting Actress (Collette). The praise was well-deserved. The picture is a well-crafted piece of cinema that does what so many modern horror films forget to do: develop characters that we care about, making their vulnerability or endangerment all the more frightening. Also, the atmosphere created by Shyamalan is pitch-perfect, eerie and cool throughout, thanks to the use of a simple score, autumn setting, and rather dark camera work. The real topper here is the acting. The leads – particularly Osment and Collette – are wonderful, portraying every emotion genuinely, making the individuals they play seem quite real. All of these components combine to make a staggering piece of art that still stands as M. Night Shyamalan’s best work and a masterpiece of the paranormal genre. A+
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