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31 Days of Horror Movies - Day 11

 

Today we are going to bump it all the way up to 11 (couldn't resist) with our recommendation for this week. Continuing our showcase on PG-13 horror classics and essentials before we move into truly forbidden territory with R rated masterpieces, today's entry became a genuine phenomenon when it was released in 1999.  

"I see dead people..."

Day 11 - The Sixth Sense

Those four words still reverberate as some of the most famous lines in, not only horror but, cinematic history. M. Night Shyamalan's third feature film tells the story of a young boy with a unique gift and the psychologist trying to help him. Bruce Willis, as the psychologist, and Haley Joel Osment (nominated for Best Supporting Actor) are tremendous in Shyamalan's film and explore the film's various thematic concerns about grief, innocence, faith, and death with a haunting elegance that is truly exceptional. Obviously Shyamalan's film has one of the most famous twists in all of pop culture (a twist so big that he is still known as the "twist guy" because of it) and I will not spoil it because this is a film that still packs a visceral and emotional punch so it deserves to be seen without knowing a whole lot about it. The Academy Awards rarely honor horror but there is a reason why this was showered with 6 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The Sixth Sense might get dismissed as being a "one trick pony" but it is anything but that - a genuine chiller that is as moving as it frightening featuring amazing performances and an unforgettably scary atmosphere that gets under your skin with ease. Similar to Verbinski, Shyamalan understands that the best way to frighten people with a PG-13 rating is by simply use images to unsettle, to have an unnerving atmosphere, and use the cinematic tools at your disposal as a weapon for fright and it shows because The Sixth Sense is one of the most disturbing horror films of all time. Whether you're watching it for the 100th time or experiencing it for the very first, there is no denying the power of this film to frighten the living daylights out of you. No other film has executed the image of a chilly, late night "emergency bathroom" wake up break as efficiently as this film... truly scary stuff. 


*All of the recommendations that we make can be found at the El Paso Public Library Catalog!

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