Early Review of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Happening’ Suggests Scariest Film Villain of All Time

Collider has a review of a rough cut of M. Night Shyamalan’s forthcoming The Happening (due on June 13), and, while there may still be a few bugs to work out (“The Happening is a terrible, terrible movie.… I’m saying this with no hyperbole, but Mark Wahlberg might very well give the worst performance I’ve ever seen in anything”), it appears that Shyamalan has finally outdone himself. The plot follows an estranged couple (Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) fighting to survive a devastating environmental crisis — a neurotoxin is released in the American northeast that makes everyone spontaneously attempt violent suicide. But who’s responsible for the deadly gas? That’s the scariest part! See an exclusive photo of The Happening’s terrifying villain after the jump! (Warning: spoilers ahead.)

Aaahh! It’s trees!Photo: iStockphoto

From the review:

It’s plants that are responsible. They’ve decided to wipe out humanity and release the neurotoxin as their natural weapon… What Shyamalan quickly finds, though, is that it’s very, very hard to menacingly cut to an evil-looking tree. That doesn’t stop him from trying, though, and he inexplicably adds wind as a way of livening up the scenes. When the leaves of a tree start to blow, evil’s afoot. It’s really, really hard not to laugh at and there’s even a real groaner of a gag-scene wherein Wahlberg timidly apologizes to a houseplant only to find that it’s made of rubber. Really.

Will these be cinema’s scariest saplings since the ones in The Wizard of Oz? And why isn’t The Happening’s tagline something about its bite being worse than its bark? Truly, we are stumped.

An Early Review of M. Night Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING [Collider]