Signs

The all-conquering (and weirdly-named) M. Night Shyamalan’s two early warnings (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) have already clearly marked him out as one of the most unique film-making talents working within the studio mainstream – and Signs, despite clear imperfections, at least partly fulfils the promise of its predecessor.

The eternally bankable Mel Gibson assumes the Bruce Willis role, playing a farmer and ex-priest whose faith deserted him after his wife cashed in her chips. Since then, he’s been stuck on his creepy Pennsylvania farm bringing up his two kids, aided by his brother (Joaquin Phoenix, something of an un-presence in a key role).

Though the film maintains an effective balance of humour and jump-out-of-skin suspense for the most part, it doesn’t have quite the gut-level impact either Sixth Sense or the hugely underrated Unbreakable offered up, and may suffer by comparison for those expecting another assault on the nerve endings.

But in and of itself, Signs is above-average Hollywood crowd-pleaser fare, with Gibson putting in the solid team effort of which he’s occasionally capable, and the two child actors acting Phoenix off the screen.

Creepy, intriguing and typically atmospheric, if never truly compelling.