Be Afraid. Be Sort of Afraid.

The Village (2004)

Starring: William Hurt, L. Ron Howard Directed by: M. Night Shamalang Rating: PG-13 Genre: Horror Other

Review M. Night Shamalang is at it again, weaving an intricate tale of suspense that attempts to leave the viewer in a state of suspense. But this time Dr. Sham has overextended himself, adapting playwright Arthur H. Miller's (Marily Monroe) classic witchhunt drama The Huxtable into a strange xenophobic parable about "creatures" who live in the "woods." L. Ron Howard (daughter of Ron Howard (Andy Griffith's Mayberry)) is very good in her film debut as a girl who gets blood splashed on her, but all but the terminally attention-challenged will have figured out that the animals are really (spoiler alert!) disgruntled (and rather poorly costumed!) tradespeople long before the third act is even a glint in the author's eye. Even so, Shamalang has a way with capes, and that can't be all bad.