The Sixth Sense. Released at local video stores when DVD commentaries were a novel feature, and perfectly timed.
Due to the surprise ending, many movie goers were done after one watch, but the geekier viewers spent more time re-watching, to pick up on extra details you wouldn’t be able to appreciate on first viewing.
I remember M. Night Shyamalan, in special features, saying red was a symbolic color in the film. They purposely took red out of the rest of the scenes, so it could signal subtly when something ghostly was going on. For example Bruce Willis’ wife wears a red dress in the restaurant scene. It was fascinating learning the language of film making, and I really like that angle of home video.
There was a DVD special feature on EVP – Electronic Voice Phenomenon also (remember the tape recorder scene). I call bullshit on this pseudoscience, but it’s still fascinating, if nothing else for its debunking value.
The Sixth Sense is similar to The Ring for me, as it doesn’t rely on cheap slasher gags. The storytelling is good enough that when there is a jump scare, it’s been earned by setup, relatable characters, and planted clues. Films that shortcut this and go right for the gore are not scary in the least to me. Who feels anything about random characters getting chopped up, if they’re boring and unrelatable?
Of course this is all from my ancient memory; I probably haven’t seen this flick in 20 years. It will be interesting streaming this for Movie Night this week, to see if my past self’s impression still holds up.
And especially interesting as my teenage daughter watches for the first time! I can’t wait to see what she thinks. Join us 9 Eastern this Saturday, on Movie Night on the Derek Tee Channel. It’s live only, so make sure it’s on your calendar!
-Derek
Hey Derek good morning